A sexual abuse report involving a former Truett-McConnell University administrator has sparked demands for an independent investigation, with hundreds backing a public petition urging accountability from university leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What We Know:<\/strong> The petition, addressed to the university’s Board of Trustees, claims Dr. Brad Reynolds, a former administrator, sexually abused Hayle Swinson, a student and later employee. The petition alleges the university’s top leadership, including President Emir Caner, failed to act or covered up concerns raised about Reynolds’ behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizers are asking for a third-party investigation, not tied to the university or its trustees, but overseen by the Georgia Baptist Mission Board. They also call for a review of abuse claims dating back to 2009, a probe into possible retaliation against whistleblowers, and a renewed commitment to institutional reforms and survivor care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a statement to students and stakeholders, the college acknowledged that Reynolds had an \u201cabhorrent, immoral, manipulative and unethical\u201d relationship with a former student. Reynolds was placed on leave in February 2024 and left the university days later. The White County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case, and a Georgia Bureau of Investigation review found graphic emails Reynolds denied writing. Prosecutors declined to press charges, citing lack of evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The university says no Title IX or HR complaints were filed regarding the matter and that outside legal counsel found no internal records of Reynolds’ past misconduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Context:<\/strong> Reynolds\u2019 alleged abuse and the petition\u2019s demands come amid broader national conversations about how Christian colleges handle sexual misconduct. The call for a mission board-led investigation is evidence of the growing skepticism about universities policing themselves in such cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The petition also raises concern about former Title IX coordinator Jonathan Morris, who students claim was fired after raising alarms. Truett-McConnell University disputes that, citing financial misconduct as the reason for his departure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[mailerlite_form form_id=35]\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A sexual abuse report involving a former Truett-McConnell University administrator has sparked demands for an independent investigation, with hundreds backing a public petition urging accountability from university leadership. What We Know: The petition, addressed to the university’s Board of Trustees, claims Dr. Brad Reynolds, a former administrator, sexually abused Hayle Swinson, a student and later […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":948,"featured_media":222948,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[18085,18084],"class_list":["post-222947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-hayle-swinson","tag-truett-mcconnell-university","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/948"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=222947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=222947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=222947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=222947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}