The Board of Trustees cannot claim innocence in this matter. There have been numerous attempts to bring concerns to the Board of Trustees in order to seek positive restoration at the University and preserve its founding mission. Since President Brown came to power in 2003 many have expressed their concerns about the administration to the Board of Trustees. As noted by the recently published report resulting from an investigation launched into Cedarville University by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), students who wrote a kind letter of concern to the Board were interrogated and forced to apologize, despite containing 225 signatures. Other students and alumni have expressed outrage on 'Facebook' and contacted also the University and Trustees with no clear changes at all. There has also been a continued drop in the results from Christianity Today's 'Best Christian Workplace' survey scores available to the trustees. Faculty members with 400+ years of service to the University started websites such as the "Coalition of the Concerned" and also Cedarville Situation.com in patient attempts to persuade the Board of Trustees by garnering public support. As further indicated in the AAUP report, now terminated Dr. Hoffeditz made many attempts to meet with the Board of Trustees to no avail. Unfortunately, none of these warnings have been heeded by the Board of Trustees. The situation is now so severe that we as alumni and family must write this letter.
The reasons we are writing this open letter are based
on the following FIVE major pieces of evidence:
1. The AAUP Report
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is an unbiased third party panel of higher education professionals from many different universities, based in Washington D.C. In January 2009, after a thorough investigation of alleged misconduct by administrators at Cedarville, the AAUP published a highly extensive and detailed report with many findings of fact that corroborate with many personal interviews conducted while the investigation was in progress during 2008. There are many troubling findings that corroborate illegal activities alleged by former professors who are now embroiled in their own personal legal action against the Board, the President, various administrators and complicit faculty.
The report contains such disturbing data such as:
- The Board of Trustees published false statements to the public
- Administrators hired a private investigator to find/create dirt on a tenured professor
- Board of Trustees rubber-stamped Brown's rejection of the GIP's findings in a single day
- Contrary to e-mails issued by President Brown, tenured professors were terminated without severance until they obtained legal assistance
- Tenure contracts were granted to avoid any conflict with accreditation
There is a large amount of investigative detail provided within the AAUP report and numerous professionals from many respected academic institutions personally signed off on the credibility of the report by posting their names are listed at the very end. A short and concise summary of the AAUP report was created by CedarvilleSituation.com and it contains all of the report's important points in a summary format. Many of the conclusions from the AAUP report are similar to the findings of the faculty Grievance Panel, even though two of the five members of the Grievance Panel were appointed by Dr. Brown. This summary, the Grievance findings and the the AAUP report are provided below.
References:
- The AAUP Report (Printer Friendly)
- Key Highlights of the AAUP Report (PDF) | c/o CedarvilleSituation.com
- Cedarville Faculty Grievance Investigation Panel Report (PDF)
- Reaction: Public Letter to the Administration by a Class of 2007 graduate (PDF)
2. Mistreatment, Removal & Departure of Faculty
Since January 2007 there has is an ever-growing list of faculty who have been forced out or are leaving the University as a result of bullying tactics and intimidation. Some of those now departed include Dr. Richard Blumenstock, Professor Ed Spencer, Professor James Bjornstad, Dr. Thomas Cragoe, Professor Amy-Hope Guisleman, Dr. David Hoffeditz, Dr. David Mappes, Dr. David Meyer, Professor Mike Thigpen, & Dr. Jack Riggs.
This list continues to grow and is longer than what is listed above. In one form or another all of these beloved instructors are no longer teaching at the University and we believe that the common theme is their respectful opposition to the administration's plans to change the school in a direction contrary to its historical positions. To respond to these increasing problems with University governance a group of former administrators, faculty and staff with 400+ years of combined service at Cedarville joined together as the "Coalition of the Concerned" and drafted a signed letter listing detailed concerns for the Board of Trustees and the administration. The Coalition has recently encouraged all constituents of Cedarville to visit this site.
In response to this letter many members of the "Coalition of Concerned" were targeted by this Administration. For example, various faculty have had to hire lawyers to defend themselves against false accusations overseen by President Bill Brown, Vice President Carl Ruby and/or former Academic Vice President Bob Milliman. One experience surrounds Dr. Richard Blumenstock, a member of the Coalition of the Concerned. While he is still employed at Cedarville, Dr. Blumenstock has been stripped of all his classes and advisees, his office was removed from the new Bible building, and he is shunned by members of the Bible department.
As professional standards drop, faculty continue to be mistreated through the regular instability of doublespeak. For example, administrators publicly claim to "rejoice in the opportunity to build a facility that will enhance the quality and scope of Bible instruction at Cedarville University." This new building was constructed "to demonstrate unwavering commitment to the authority of Scripture" by "Proclaiming the Light of the World" as an "academic enrichment center" and "house the University's Bible department," and yet the building has been used to advance the political views of Michael Moore. Worse, dropping standards have led to the public exposure of internal corruption by stories from Cedarville staff, such as the personal account of Cessna Winslow's interactions within the University's Public Relations department. Her account, the Coalition letter and the dramatic video response to Cedarville University's "The Heart of the Matter" DVD are all highly significant and available for public viewing below.
References:
- Signed Letter from the "Coalition of the Concerned" (PDF)
- Former Public Relations employee reveals internal ethical issues (PDF)
- Dramatic 20 Minute Video Documenting CU Terminations
3. The Hoffeditz Lawsuit
In July 2007, Drs. David Mappes and David Hoffeditz were terminated depsite being tenured, promoted, and receiving contracts in April 2007. Both men were forced to hire lawyers to defend themselves. While Dr. Mappes sought employment elsewhere, Dr. Hoffeditz desired to be reinstated at Cedarville. The Grievance Investigation Panel and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) both exonerated Dr. Hoffeditz. However, the Trustees not only refused to meet with Dr. Hoffeditz but upheld the Administration's decision to terminate him. With no other recourse, Dr. Hoffeditz filed a lawsuit for fraud, breach of contract, and defamation of character.
Directly contradicting statements between President Brown and terminated professor Dr. Hoffeditz are now publicly available in PDF format.
References:
- Contradicting Statements Made Under Oath (PDF) | c/o CedarvilleSituation.com
- Lawsuit Filed in Greene County Ohio (PDF)
UPDATE: IN MAY 2011, AFTER THE CONCLUSION OF A FULL JURY TRIAL IN GREENE COUNTY OHIO, CEDARVILLE UNIVERSITY OFFERED TO SETTLE THE CASE WITH DR. HOFFEDITZ JUST PRIOR TO A VERDICT BEING ANNOUNCED. READ THIS PUBLIC STATEMENT FROM DR. HOFFEDITZ FOR FURTHER DETAILS.
4. Best Christian Workplace Survey
The Best Christian Institute provides a confidential survey to assist Christian institutions in assessing their organization. Cedarville has participated in this survey five times since the 2002-2003 year. In the most recent Best Workplace Survey for the 2008-2009 year, 84.6% of the faculty & staff at Cedarville participated in the study, including administrators.
Each survey question is ranked on a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 represents the lowest/most negative response and 5 represents the highest/most positive response. To be certified as a Best Christian Workplace an organization must score an average of 4.0 or higher for all answers provided in the overall survey. In the last few years Cedarville did not qualify for the certification as it failed to satisfy this score. In fact, in 55 of the 58 survey questions Cedarville ranks lower than the average score among the other certified schools that are surveyed. In addition, of the 50 identical survey questions that were presented in previous survey years, Cedarville's ratings remained identical in 4 of these questions while dropping to lower ratings in 40 of these re-used questions.
What is more disturbing is the nature of the poorest scored questions. The following graph uses actual survey data to visually track a consistent decline in scores for six important questions. The questions are listed beside the graph.
Note: Observe the consistent decline since Dr. Brown became President in 2003.
As available on the University website in PDF format, the survey results are available for the multiple years and are listed below.
References:
- Best Workplace Survey Results (PDF) for:
2002-2003,
2003-2004,
2004-2005,
2006-2007, &
2008-2009.
Previously Referenced:
- Letter to the Board by concerned students and a description of their subsequent punishment
5. Damaging Press Coverage
The Trustees continual refusal to meet with all parties and "right the wrong" has resulted in damaging press coverage in local newspapers (e.g., Dayton Daily, Columbus Dispatch), academic journals (e.g., Chronicle of Higher Education), and numerous online news blogs. The bad exposure is creating uncalculable damage to the reputation of our alma mater.
References:
- Termination story by the Chronicle of Higher Education (PDF)
- Secret Recording story by the Chronicle of Higher Education (PDF)
- Additional coverage by the Dayton Daily News (PDF)