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The Truett McConnell University Board of Trustees agreed to place President Emir Caner on administrative leave until a third-party investigation into the allegations of sexual abuse and a cover-up are completed. The trustees met at the university today while a small group of alumni and supporters gathered in peaceful protest, holding signs that said, "Truth is Immortal" – a slogan TMU students are taught. Meanwhile, an email from a TMU administrator advising faculty to remain silent on the issue has surfaced.
Demonstrators were citing a recent podcast and article featuring former student and employee Hayle Swinson, who accused former vice president Bradley Reynolds of years of psychological manipulation and sexual abuse. Swinson also alleged university leaders, including Caner, protected Reynolds and silenced critics. Reynolds resigned from TMU following an investigation by the White County Sheriff's Office in February-March 2024.
Several of the protestors corroborated Swinson's accusations of a coverup culture at the school.
One former staff member and alumna who asked not be identified, said male students who were accused of harassment were usually removed from class for a semester, but were then often allowed to return. A 2019 petition signed by 50 female students alleging misconduct by Reynolds was reportedly ignored.
"I wonder how many more were abused," said the woman, who was a non traditional student at TMU. "I was a wife and a mother. I basically raised my children on that campus."
Brianna Jo Lewallen, who attended TMU from 2014-2018 and from 2021-2022, and helped organize Friday's protest, said numerous staff members who were asked to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), might have spoken out otherwise.
The email from TMU's Dean of the College of Arts and Letters, Maël Disseau, dated March 5, 2024, advises staff not to share details of Reynolds' sudden resignation.
"It is wiser that details not be shared," Disseau wrote, who framed criticism of the school as spiritual distraction.
"After all, there is nothing any of us can do in this situation, so the thirst for details is really just to quench our curiosity," he wrote. "So ultimately, the details that led up to the decision are not important." Being obedient to God is the only important thing, he added.
Protestors say this mindset reflects a broader unwillingness to confront abuse, something they believe the university must face. Lewallen was one of at least 50 people who signed a petition during the 2018-2019 academic year, asking that Reynolds and his behavior be dealt with. Caner has denied ever seeing the petition.
"We took this information to our boss, Jonathan Morris to advocate for the safety of Truett students," Lewallen wrote on Facebook. Then Morris brought it to Chris Eppling, vice president of student services at the time. "We wrote our names on the list out of support for the residents and safety of the female students. We can attest there was a list, and there were at least 50 names, to our recall."
Lewallen said she did not know if Eppling was successful in passing that early petition on to the school's trustees. She said they had then trusted in the school's leadership, and so did not think to make a copy.
"We're really truly broken, just by the darkness that has already been revealed," she said.