Dr. Emir Caner will not return as president of Truett McConnell University. The university’s Board of Trustees voted to “separate” from Caner after a months-long investigation into allegations of spiritual manipulation, sexual abuse by a former vice president, and an alleged cover-up.
The decision followed a four-hour closed-door meeting Thursday with Richard Hyde, the outside investigator hired to review the claims. On Friday, acting president Dr. John O. Yarbrough confirmed the board’s action during a press conference on TMU’s Cleveland campus.
Hyde told Now Habersham Friday, “I made my report; I answered questions, and if there’s more work they want me to do, I’m sure they’ll let me know.”
Neither Yarbrough nor Hyde revealed any details about what the investigation had found, including whether it found Caner had knowledge of the unfolding scandal in which a student and soccer player—later a junior staff member—was allegedly groomed, abused, and allegedly ultimately raped by Bradley Reynolds, who at the time was a vice president of TMU.
Reynolds allegedly frequently invited Swinson to his home, and religiously counseled, then abused her behind closed doors in his basement, according to Swinson, who first revealed her experiences to the Roys Report, a Christian news site.
Few details revealed
A press conference Friday morning was attended by about 10 journalists and was addressed only by Yarbrough and TMU Director of Communications Brandi Wood. Yarbrough said he was not in the executive session, did not hear or learn of Hyde’s findings, and might not ever be told what those findings were.
Yarbrough did characterize the accusations against Reynolds in the strongest terms, saying “…the events, the circumstances, the actions that were taken were horrible, deplorable, sinful, wicked, demonic, but they aren’t on this campus anymore as they’ve been discovered.”
He pleaded with journalists to report on positive developments at the school and its successes with recruitment and growth of the student body. He pointed to TMU’s high rankings in various polls of Georgia’s Christian colleges, which were displayed on signs at his side.
Yarbrough said that Caner would have no future role of any kind at TMU. He did not reveal the terms of Caner’s departure, saying, “As soon as things are settled, our trustees will have another press report, but things are so unsettled. We know less than you want to know, until they get through with the negotiations of the separation.”
Yarbrough said none of the trustees had chosen to attend Friday’s press conference, and he could not answer questions to which only they would know the answers.
“I didn’t hear the report,” he said.
Yarbrough said he knew of no decision by the Trustees to discipline any faculty member or administrator other than Caner, adding that every University employee other than the President reports directly or indirectly to the President, not the Trustees. He acknowledged that, as interim president, he has the power to impose disciplinary measures on other staff.
Asked if he would learn more details about the Hyde report, Yarbrough replied, “I don’t see a reason I need to know” the findings of Hyde’s investigation.
Yarbrough said there are new fraternization rules in place on campus, including a prohibition against faculty or staff being in the same room with someone of the opposite sex with the door closed. “We increased the codes of conduct,” he said.
What led to this
The Board placed Caner on administrative leave on June 6, after allegations surfaced that he engaged in an alleged cover-up after Reynolds was accused of sexual misconduct.
Hayle Swinson, a former student-athlete who later joined the TMU staff, accused Reynolds of spiritually manipulating and raping her. When the allegations were brought to Caner’s attention, some say he ignored them and allegedly retaliated against those who raised concerns about Reynolds’ behavior. TMU’s former Title IX coordinator, Jonathan Morris, and former Vice President of Student Services, Chris Eppling, were reportedly pushed out of their jobs after voicing concerns. The school has denied that they were retaliated against.
Asked on Friday whether the whistleblowers would be hired back or compensated in any way, Yarbrough said he did not know, but added that there were at present no open positions at TMU to which Morris or Eppling might return.
In a prepared statement, the Board of Trustees thanked Caner for his 17 years of service and announced it would form a committee to begin the process of hiring a new president.
Enotha Judicial Circuit District Attorney, Jeff Langley could not be reached for comment Friday; his assistant said he was in a trial in Banks County.
Langley had previously said that his own investigation would take until at least the end of this month. He had not yet decided on whether he would present his eventual findings to a Grand Jury for possible indictment.
Langley earlier said that he was open to the possibility that he might prosecute former Reynolds or other wrongdoers, if any.
Alleged abuse occurred over several years
Reynolds’ alleged abuse of Swinson occurred over several years, mostly in the basement of his home, off-campus, during private religious counseling sessions, according to Swinson’s podcast interview. Swinson also sometimes slept over in the Reynolds’ basement, behind what she wrongly believed to be a locked door, she said. It was on those occasions when the worst abuse occurred, she said in her original interview.
Swinson and her attorney offered more than 350 emails, many of them heavily sexual in nature, from Reynolds to Swinson. Some seemed to argue that Swinson had a religious obligation to submit. Reynolds had initially denied he was the author of those emails, but Kelley’s staff was able to determine they came from the vice president’s private email account.
Swinson has declined to speak to media, apart from the podcast where she first shared her story and a recent news article with the AJC. She responded to a message sent through her website portal several weeks ago to say she would need to think about whether she wanted to comment further, but has not subsequently contacted Now Habersham.
As reported previously, Bradley Reynolds, contacted in June, identified himself, but then hung up on a reporter. Reynolds was located at a sandwich shop in Texas, where he was reportedly working as of early June.
