December 19, 2023
Dear members of the Regent College Board of Governors and Senate:
We are writing to ask you to remedy a failure of accountability by Regent College (hereinafter “Regent”), which has come to light about John Stackhouse (hereinafter “Stackhouse”), a faculty member between 1998 and 2015.
According to public reporting and documentation:
- In 2014, Regent opened an investigation into Stackhouse’s “conduct with female students and staff members.” Stackhouse left Regent the next year, with a non-disclosure agreement keeping the terms of his departure a secret.
- In January 2015, Regent thanked Stackhouse “for his service… over many years,” and wished him “every blessing in his new position” at Crandall University.
- In April 2023, allegations of sexual harassment at Crandall University began to be posted on an Instagram account. After an open letter was signed by 70 Crandall alumni, Crandall University then hired Pink Larkin, an employment dispute resolution firm, to undertake an independent investigation.
- Stackhouse was dismissed on November 22, 2023 after Pink Larkin’s investigation uncovered “inappropriate or sexually-oriented statements or conversations” over a nine-month period in 2020 and 2021.
- The key findings from the investigation claim that Stackhouse’s behaviour constituted sexual harassment, and, in one case involving more than 100 pages of emails to one student, constituted “a classic case” of grooming.
- One tip reviewed by the investigator appeared to implicate Regent, implying that Regent removed Stackhouse from his position, despite similar allegations, “allowing him to move to another school and affect more unsuspecting victims.” When asked about sexual harassment complaints at his previous institution, Stackhouse told the Pink Larkin investigator that he did not see “how it’s in my interest to answer” and that “there was no open complaint at the time of my leaving.”
- The original public statement released by Regent’s leadership on November 23, 2023, failed to address any of the findings, claiming that provincial privacy law forbids them from doing so, while affirming the safety of its students through harassment policies that have been in place since November 2013, before Regent’s investigation of Stackhouse.
- The updated public statement released by Regent on December 4, 2023 offers general expressions of disappointment and commits to reviewing and improving Regent’s policies and procedures. However, the updated statement still refuses to acknowledge even substantiated allegations at Crandall, nor commit to any kind of investigation of events at Regent.
Why we are so grieved and appalled:
We recognize that allegations of harassment or similar wrongdoing are incredibly serious and must be handled with sensitivity and fairness. This is also true in a post-secondary institution shaped by biblical and theological calls to seek justice.
Regent’s own values statement notes that the Gospel of Jesus Christ “applies to every aspect and to every arena of life.” Jesus announced this Gospel as a prophetic call of blessing on the marginalized and oppressed. Yet that blessing also includes condemnation of religious structures that could be used as conduits for abuse.
As such, Regent must consistently examine how power is conferred in its own community, and work to prevent the abuse of that power. Regent needs to be aware that faculty members not only have power over their students’ futures (through grades, publications, referrals, etc.), but they also have a spiritual and moral authority that could be exploited for improper ends. Regent needs to ensure that their reporting processes are accessible and do not isolate and burden victims, making it difficult to identify and respond to misconduct.
We understand that Regent may not be able to legally disclose details of past investigations or the terms of any settlement. But there was still much Regent could have done to reassure its students, alumnae, and the broader community. Regent did not. We find the public response to the recent allegations to be deeply flawed, if not an outright betrayal of the Gospel:
- Regent thanked Stackhouse and wished him well in 2015 as he left for a new position, representing Stackhouse’s departure as unproblematic. Given his subsequent firing from Crandall, this public statement has given many alumni we have spoken with the impression that institutional self-preservation was more important than the experience of past and eventual future victims.
- To the best of our knowledge, neither recent allegations and events at Crandall University nor a Regent alum’s public allegations on national television about a well-known pattern of behaviour have prompted a thorough re-examination of Regent’s actions. This lack of accountability and transparency are disappointing and embarrassing to us as alumni.
- Regent has not demonstrated that safeguards are in place–or, importantly, were put in place at the time of Stackhouse’s departure–to prevent abuses of power similar to those described in the Pink Larkin report.
- Regent’s disciplinary processes remain opaque, with no public explanation of how Regent conducts investigations, reasons and standards for discipline or censure, and why or how it could enter into a settlement with a non-disclosure agreement. Meanwhile Regent’s published harassment policy includes clauses such as a threat of disciplinary measures against complainants for “frivolous or vexatious” complaints, which is not a best practice.
- Regent’s original public statement used the red herring of provincial privacy laws like the Personal Information Protection Act to sidestep ownership, minimized substantiated complaints as mere “allegations,” and failed to take any responsibility, express any empathy for victims, or work towards repentance. Now that so much information has become public, Regent’s appeal to privacy appears to have been a form of misdirection.
We, the undersigned, demand that you publicly commit to the following two actions:
A. Engage GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment) to conduct an independent review of how Regent College has handled complaints of harassment and abuse since 1998. We request you hire GRACE because they have proven, industry-standard results, they focus on reformation and improvement rather than just legal liability, and they are trusted by victims as well as institutions. If GRACE is not available, we ask that you retain advocate Rachael Joy Denhollander to recommend an alternative investigator and follow her advice. Regardless of the investigator that is chosen, we ask that you commit to the following:
- public release of the engagement letter between Regent and the investigator once it is approved by the Board;
- a public invitation to submit to the investigator any complaints about harassment or abuse that have not been previously investigated;
- a review of the quality, scope, and findings of past misconduct investigations;
- a waiver of Regent’s lawyer-client privilege (as in the 2022 investigation of the Southern Baptist Convention) so the investigator can examine communications between Regent and legal counsel around these matters;
- an audit of how many contracts with confidentiality, non-disclosure, or non-disparagement clauses have been signed between Regent and other parties, followed by contacting those parties and offering fresh copies of the contracts they signed so they can obtain independent legal advice; and
- release of a fulsome public report prepared by the investigator.
B. Commission a Regent Integrity Task Force, with equal representation from board members, alumni, and former staff and faculty, to:
- facilitate cooperation with the investigation;
- prayerfully examine whether Regent’s culture and ethos have, at times, fallen below ideals of justice and righteousness, and, if so, how and why;
- consult widely on how to revise Regent’s harassment policy, incorporating at least the following improvements:
- defining sexual harassment as “unwelcome comment or conduct of a sexual nature” according to a reasonable person, without reference to the mental state of complainants or respondents;
- removing all time limits on reporting;
- mandating follow-up on any and all inappropriate behaviours identified in course evaluations;
- banning any agent of Regent from requiring complainants to meet with respondents;
- banning any process for or suggestion of discipline towards complainants for so-called “frivolous” complaints;
- ensuring that a majority of those responsible for adjudicating complaints (the “Complaint Review Committee”) are not senior administrators;
- stating that complainants are forever free to discuss their complaint and related experiences with a law enforcement officer, a lawyer, a minister, a psychologist, a physician, a registered nurse, a social worker, a spiritual counsellor, or a victims services provider;
- develop a proposal for what to do with revenues from products sold by Regent that involve Stackhouse;
- write and release a public apology for Regent’s failure to be transparent and accountable, directed especially at those who made previous complaints without any affirmation, justice, or closure.
Signed,
Jennifer Armerding
Joèl Adrienne Amzil, MDiv 2004
Rev’d Professor Matthew Anstey, MCS 2000
Dr. Paul Arnold, MA 2012
Murray Baker, DCS 1974
Dr. Crystal Zaidle Barrett, Former Student 2000
Dr. Robert C. Barrett, MCS 2001
Carrie Becker, MCS 1998
Felsen Binger Bejnar, MCS 2012
Jessica Binger Bejnar, MATS 2013
Jake Benjamins, MATS 2011
Maria Beversluis, MDiv 2011
Rebecca Moritz Bonham, DipCS 2015 and former staff member
Dr. Michael Buttrey, MATS 2011
Beth Carlson-Malena, MDiv 2010
Patricia Chan, MATS 2022
Sarah Clarke, MATS 2012
Melanie Colenutt, MDiv 2011
Rev. Jen Holmes Curran, MDiv 2009
Rev. Tony Holmes Curran, MDiv 2008
Rev. Donna Dinsmore, MCS 2002; staff 1998-2005, sessional lecturer 2003-2005
Brian Ducille, DipCS 2008
Angela Earl, MDiv 2009
Trudi Edmeades, GDCS 2008
Dr. Jennifer First, MCS 2005
Lindsey Fox, Former Student 2006-07
David Fraser, MATS 2014
Megan (Ramsay) Fraser, MATS 2014
Dr. April L. French, MATS 2011
Maria Gaudin, MATS 2016
Jane Halton, MDiv 2005
Sarah Hillaby, MATS 2012
Anna Hillaker, MDiv 2013
Rev. Matthew Humphrey, MATS 2010
Daniel Melvill Jones, MDiv 2026
Rev. Jeremy Keay, MCS 2003
JJ Kissinger, MDiv 2011
Edmond Ko, GDCS 2008
Immanuel Koks, MATS 2015
Lee Kosa, MDiv 2019
Rev. Janina S. (Mobach) Krabbe, MDiv 2013
Silas Krabbe, MATS 2015
Catherine Thiel Lee, MDiv 2006
Dorcas Lee, GDCS 2010
Lucas Lee, MATS 2015
Matthew van Leeuwen, MATS 2010
Lindi Lewis, MCS 1984; sessional lecturer 1986-2014
Eileen Li, MATS 2014
Rev. Mollie Rieck Mana’o, MDiv 2004
Brian Edward Marek, ThM 2016
Rev. Daniel Martinez, MATS 2014
James Matichuk, MDiv 2010
Sarah Matichuk, MDiv 2012
Annie Krasker McKitrick, DipCS 1970s
Susan McLeod-Harrison, MDiv 2004
Dr. Michelle Miller, MCS 2003
Shiloh Minor, MATS 2013
Rev. Corrie Gustafson Montoya, MDiv 2006
Rev. Jonathan Nicolai-deKoning, MDiv 2010
Anne Park, MATS 2020
Ahna Phillips, MATS 2012
Rev Dr Kim Pierrot, MDiv 1998
Giselle Randall, MCS 2005
Dr. C. Reed, Former Student, 2008-2010
Dr. Johann Roduit, MATS 2010
Laura Rosengren, MCS 2011
Dr. Tracy Russell, MATS 2014
Frank Schimunek, MDiv 2008
Anna Scott, MATS 2014
The Rev. Jenny Scott-Jones, MDiv 2015
Sandra Vander Schaaf, MA 2012
Taylor Siegrist, MATS 2010
Rev. Dr. Florian M. P. Simatupang, MDiv 2012
Dr. Chelle Stearns, MCS 1998
Bryn Stephenson, MATS 2014
Melodie Rae Storey, MCS 2010
Sonya E. Taylor, MDiv 2014
Rev. Andrea Tisher, MATS 2008
Dr. Rachel Toombs, MATS 2013
Margaret Trim, MATS 2004
Joni Vanderpol, MATS 2015
Rev Charis Weathers, MDiv 2004
Brent Wittmeier, MCS 2005
Rev. Mike Yonkers, MDiv 2011