Christopher Peterman (he/him)

I grew up in Bradenton, Florida where I attended a private Christian school from kindergarten through twelfth grade. This Christian school was / is a feeder school for Bob Jones University. I also attended the attached independent fundamental Baptist church that started and ran the Christian school. This religious institution was my entire life from very young through adulthood. I was indoctrinated into the IFB religious system from an extremely young age and my worldview was very limited and controlled. I started my freshman year at Bob Jones University in 2006. I attended BJU from 2006 - 2009. In 2009 I took a break from BJU due to financial issues. During my initial time at BJU I, obviously, had some conflicts with the strict rules but for the most part fit into the BJU mold very well, especially given my religious indoctrination and education background. I returned to BJU in 2011 at the age of 23. Upon my return to BJU I became aware of multiple reports sexual assault allegations at BJU and disturbing "counseling" begin given to survivors by BJU staff. At this same time I became aware of sexual assault within my own family and the cover up that occurred at my church / Christian school back home in Bradenton. It became obvious that these issues were widespread within religion in general and specifically prevalent within the IFB. In 2011 I became aware of Chuck Phelps, a pastor from New Hampshire. Phelps became aware of the sexual assault, rape, and impregnation of a 15 year old child named Tina Anderson. Phelps required Anderson, again 15 at the time, to stand before the church congregation to "apologize" for being raped and then Phelps sent her off to have the baby and then to put the baby up for adoption. I read about Tina's story and learned that Chuck Phelps, despite his handling of this situation, remained on the board of trustees of Bob Jones University. I took my concerns to the University's executive leadership and was dismissed. Phelps was to remain a member of the board in good standing and I was too stop discussing this issue to "protect the cause of Christ". After my discussions with leadership at BJU regarding Phelps and their dismissal of my concerns I formed Do Right BJU. The goals of Do Right BJU were to demand the removal of Chuck Phelps from the board, to demand that BJU bring in an outside firm to review assault allegations, and a revamping of the counseling project at BJU. DRBJU began gaining support from concerned alumni and current students and we planned the first student protest at Bob Jones University. The protest was set to occur on December 12, 2011. A few days before the protect Chuck Phelp resigned from his position on the board. However, we continued with our protest. The protest gained national media attention and put a direct spotlight on abuse allegations at BJU. Given this attention, a BJU spokesperson announced that no student would be targeted or disciplined for participating in DRBJU. That was a lie. While BJU was doing performative announcements like forming a committee to review allegations and working to enhance it's counseling to victims the leadership of the university was also scrutinizing every aspect of my life on campus. I had multiple students following me around town to watch where and what I was doing as well as monitoring my social media posts and reporting back to the Dean of Students on my activities. I was required to have multiple counseling sessions every week to ensure I was on the righteous path and that I was aligned with the University's values. I was set to graduate in May of 2012. With 9 days remaining until graduation, while in the middle of final exams, I was called to the Dean of Men's office and expelled from the University. The reasons for my expulsion: facial hair (checked at 9PM), posting lyrics to a Christian song on my Facebook, and watching the tv show Glee off campus. After my expulsion, BJU announced they were hiring Godly Response to Abuse in a Christian Environment, G.R.A.C.E., a Christian non-profit that specializes in helping Christian groups confront sexual abuses, psychological abuses, and physical abuses. In subsequent years, GRACE released their report (after being fired and then rehired by BJU) and BJU announced needed changes to its counseling program. Overall, DRBJU was successful in its goals and I am confident and extremely proud that I had a small part of bringing light and justice to those who were abused at the hands of these religious predators. After my expulsion from BJU I moved to Charlotte, North Carolina where I have lived since 2012. I am now a project manager at a large financial institution and am no longer religious.