Truett McConnell faculty chairs went straight to trustees

The jury is out on the long-term damage to Truett McConnell University brought by a sexual abuse scandal, but the next few weeks will prove critical.

News broke May 29 that a former coed had accused a former vice president of grooming her and abusing her under the pretense of private Bible studies in his home basement. Hayle Swinson also said President Emir Caner knew about the allegations of abuse by Bradley Reynolds and failed to act.

Meanwhile, a second faculty member, Jeremy Lyon, since has been accused of sexual abuse of a student late one night in the campus gymnasium. Lyon served as associate professor of Old Testament and Hebrew but his information has disappeared from the school’s faculty page.

Together, these allegations rocked the small North Georgia community that is home to the small evangelical school affiliated with the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.

Within one week of the scandal being made public, trustees put Caner on administrative leave, opened a third-party investigation and named alumnus and former board member John Yarbrough acting president.

Although it’s summer break now, the clock is ticking toward opening of the fall semester in eight weeks. This is the time when students and parents are finalizing their decisions for the next academic year.

Gateway to the mountains

Cleveland, Ga., was the least expected place for such a horror to occur, according to alumni and others who spoke openly on social media and to news reporters.

Many said they could expect something like this scandal to occur in a metropolitan area like Atlanta just 90 minutes to the south. For 80 years, the small college rooted in Scripture had a certain appeal to parents entrusting their sons and daughters to leave home.

While Cleveland residents do not portray the city as perfect, they do admit to feeling safer than in larger cities. Cleveland markets itself as the gateway to North Georgia’s mountains and scenic beauty.

Certainly no one expected to find a sexual predator at Truett McConnell.

Certainly no one expected to find a sexual predator at Truett McConnell with its high moral values and close ties to Georgia Baptists.

With a 2023 population of just 3,539, Cleveland has one of the lowest violent crime rates in the state. The town’s population mushrooms when Truett McConnell’s 2,714 students are added in, although only 847 of those are full-time students while the remainder (1,867) are part-time students.

Cleveland is perhaps best known as home to BabyLand General Hospital, which gained international popularity in the 1970s with its soft and cuddly dolls in its Cabbage Patch Kids collection. More than 95 million dolls were produced, resulting in numerous national magazine covers and a U.S. Postal Service stamp.

Since its founding in 1946, Truett McConnell has grown with strong support from the community and area churches, reaching university status in 2016. But it kept its small college aura, which gave it an advantage over larger, more impersonal schools. It worked hard to earn the title of Best Rated Christian College in Georgia for 2024 and 2025 by Best Value Schools.

Small colleges and universities like Truett McConnell — scattered from coast to coast — are the backbone of Southern Baptist higher education. The Georgia Baptist Mission Board relates to three such schools: Truett McConnell, Shorter University in Rome, and Brewton Parker College far south in Mount Vernon. While all three are self-governing, Georgia Baptists elect the trustees to oversee doctrinal purity.

Faculty concerns

On June 5, one week after the scandal broke, Truett McConnell trustees met in a called session to determine what action to take to save the university’s future. They quickly got a sense of the pulse from the community; the night before alumni held a community-wide prayer and worship meeting and the next morning a “Stand-in for Truth” peaceful protest occurred outside the building where trustees were meeting.

BNG now has learned that shortly before the meeting, trustees were given a letter containing “concerns and requests” and signed by chairs of the 10 schools of the university. The document’s preamble noted that “though it is not customary for faculty to directly address … trustees … we believe that the current crisis warrants this unusual approach.”

Such a communication from faculty leaders directly to trustees is so rare that Rick Austin, one of 10 chairs who signed the document, told BNG he never has witnessed such a thing in his 28-year academic career.

And yet the letter begins with a peaceful plea: “Our concerns are in nowise offered in an adversarial spirit. We want to be effective partners with our trustees and administration, working to create the best environment for the school, our students, and our faculty and staff to thrive.”

In four points, the document calls for transparency and faculty leadership, an independent administrative review, collaboration with the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, and — most unusual — removal of nondisclosure agreements.

“We are deeply troubled that the administration failed to inform the faculty chairs about the reasons for Reynolds’ sudden departure (within a week of his February 2024 informing the administration about his being investigated by the White County Sheriff’s Office due to his inappropriate behavior). … We were told only that HR policy prohibited disclosure.

“Some of us were misled by a false narrative that Reynolds had been wrongly accused and chose to step away to clear his name. We now know this was untrue. As faculty chairs, we are the university leaders closest to our students, serving as both part-time administrators and full-time teachers.”

The letter says the chairs are well-positioned to support the well-being of the community, but only if they are fully informed. “Learning of a sexual predator in our midst through external media, rather than internal communication, is unacceptable.”

The document then turns to the need for an independent review rather than one provided by the university, saying it could lead “in safeguarding our students and staff and in restoring the trust — both internal and public — damaged by this scandal.”

Third, it calls it “essential” to involve the Georgia Baptist Mission Board in the review, describing the denomination’s participation as “critical.”

And fourth, the letter calls for an end to nondisclosure agreements. “We respectfully request the immediate release of all parties” from the restrictive agreements “to foster openness, facilitate healing for those affected, and demonstrate the university’s commitment to truth and justice, aligning with our mission to uphold integrity and biblical principles,” as referenced in the document.

That point could free up the school’s former Title IX coordinator, Jonathan Morris, and former Vice President of Student Services Chris Eppling, who were said to have been pushed out of their jobs after voicing concerns. Letting trustees — and the larger community — hear their side could provide a counterpoint to the administration’s narrative claiming innocence.

Trustees never informed of the alleged relationship

Trustee Chairman Robby Foster told BNG June 12 the board never was informed of the scandal, even after Reynolds notified the administration of the sheriff’s department investigation 14 months ago. Reynolds made the acknowledgement in February 2024, was immediately placed on administrative leave, and his employment ended in a matter of days. The university did not say he was fired.

Thus, according to the trustee chair and the 10 faculty unit chairs, reasons for the dismissal of a high-ranking administrator never were communicated to faculty or trustees.

“As trustees we receive regular statements of employees being hired or leaving but we did not receive any details of Brad’s reason for leaving,” Foster said.

Foster confirmed the board was not made aware of the scandal until Swinson’s attorneys communicated it in writing a year later, on Jan. 20 this year.

Upon receiving the lengthy document from Swinson’s attorney earlier this year, Foster said, the board began working on a response through the university’s legal counsel. Contrary to some reports, the university’s attorneys have taken action and have been in contact with Swinson’s attorneys, he said.

Responses to recent events

Austin told BNG he is concerned about the message this scandal will send to those in the surrounding community who are not Christians.

“Not all students are believers, but that demographic needs the assurance that their students or children are going to get a great education in a safe environment,” he said. “The parents as well as the students need to know without a doubt that they are safe, loved and well educated.

Austin is himself a sexual abuse survivor and said he has zero tolerance for those who abuse others. “I have lived it and know the road to recovery is going to be long for those who have experienced it.”

He added: “I did not expect this at Truett, … none of us did.”

But, “All 10 of us chairs who signed the document wanted the trustees and campus at large to know we are deeply committed to pursuing what is true and right and best for the students.”

Chuck Johnson, pastor at Hollywood Baptist Church near Clarkesville, Ga., is a loyal Truett McConnell alumnus who is troubled by the scandal. He’s pulling for his alma mater.

“The truth needs to come out one way or another,” he said. “What happened is heartbreaking and at this point I am encouraged with the trustees’ action.”

Christopher Barnard, pastor of Pine Forest Baptist Church in Macon, Ga., summed up the frustration of many on his Substack page by linking the scandal at his alma mater to larger problems, where “not a week goes by without another scandal coming to light in Western Christendom.”

Ironically, Bradley Reynolds taught one of Barnard’s favorite classes, Christian apologetics.

“But now, the lectures and notes I have from his class all have a moral asterisk next to them. A ‘little folly’ has outweighed ‘wisdom and honor.’ A ‘fly in the ointment’ has ruined the fragrant ‘perfume of divine glory’” as penned by Solomon in Ecclesiastes.

Barnard says Reynolds and Caner owe everyone who followed their teaching a public apology and not silence.

 

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