“Private Religious University, Public Religious Trauma” Part I: Sexism and Purity Culture
These are the experiences of former students and staff of William Jessup University, a private Christian college in Rocklin, CA.
“Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.”
― Toni Morrison, Beloved
While the current president of WJU, Dr. John Jackson, has recently stirred up controversy several times with his polarizing tweets, we know that the broader culture of Jessup also reflects the same sentiments. That if you’re not the picture perfect Christian, you do not belong. His recent bold claim that you can’t call yourself evangelical and vote for Joe Biden only further widens the gap between those that fit this mold, and those who fail.
Former students and staff have come together to share their experiences at this “Christian” University to highlight how these narrow views have left so many hurt and alienated in its wake. If other students have their own stories to share, please submit at liberatedjessupians@gmail.com and we will continue to publish and bring awareness.
For those who have come out of schools like Jessup, you too may have seen or experienced much of what we are about to share. We are moved to compassion for each person who garners the courage to be heard, unsure if it will be met with love or consequences, but also knowing that it must be told. Telling the truth is a revolutionary act of love.
Sexism and Purity Culture: What I Lived
Elyse Byrum Polis
As a Jessup alumni, I have found it very disappointing to see the rhetoric being said and shared on social media by current president John Jackson. A recent post shared on Twitter stated “to vote for this man [Biden] is to hate your neighbor & deny your God.” If I were an outsider reading the president’s tweets, I would feel targeted for my political beliefs. It’s obvious he was trying to sway people to one political side. I happen to have voted for Biden, but I love my neighbor and do not deny my God. This polarized view has been shown by John Jackson and William Jessup University time and time again. It is not an institution that I am proud to have been associated with. The alignment of John Jackson with the current occupant of the White House is unbelievable. The hate speech and racist views coming from Trump should be enough for any follower of Jesus to cut ties with this man. Sadly, the conservative evangelical community has accepted it. John Jackson has time and time again has used social media to uplift the voices of those speaking against Black people, science, or anyone who does not fall in line with this conservative “evangelical” rhetoric.
One of my grievances about Jessup is the lack of diversity in Christian beliefs and practices. I remember being in one of my first classes at Jessup and the professor was arguing with one of the students about her faith and how she was not a “real” Christian because she was a practicing Catholic. Is Jessup’s way of thinking so small that they cannot realize that there is more than one way to love Jesus than being a conservative evangelical?
I have taken quite a few steps back from the church and evangelicalism because of the damage that was done by the words I heard and the behaviors I saw growing up in church and during my 5 years at Jessup. Purity culture has been one of the most demeaning and damaging movements that I have experienced.
While at Jessup, I remember hearing Barbara Wilson speak in chapel and in classes a few times. Her whole message is about intimacy and sexual bonds that are created during any form of physical intimacy. I remember sitting in chapel hearing her speak about all of this and wondering if it applied to the years that I had been sexually abused as a child.
What about the time that I was sexually assaulted as a teenager? Did that count? Was I doomed to have all of these bonds with my abusers forever? Another problem with purity culture was how it only targeted women.
At Jessup they kicked out the unmarried women who became pregnant, but not the men who also took part in conception. This is one of the policies that the university practiced at least twice (that I was privy to) in the time that I was there.
I am disappointed and disgusted by what I have seen at Jessup and heard from John Jackson, as well as by the stories shared from my friends and other alumni that experienced so much pain at this place. I have warned others about this school and tried to steer people away and I will continue to do so. You can expect my alumni license plate frame in the mail, because I want no association with this school or with its president ever again.
Tell them it was me,
Elyse Byrum Polis
p.s. and remove my name from all the mailings. I don’t want to have to keep throwing it away when I get it.
Sexism and Purity Culture: What I Lived
by Courtney Baker
When I reflect on my time at William Jessup University, I feel as though I am peering into some weird, parallel universe where the memories of my experiences were happening to someone else or to a different version of myself. Today, I would never tolerate the things I did when I was at Jessup. I can safely say that my experiences with the English department are the only positive things that I got from attending the school. A safe haven of like-minded individuals and professors who inspired and challenged me.
During my first year at WJU, Associate Dean Tom Stephens called every girl with a boyfriend to meet with him alone in his office to lecture them about Public Displays of Affection. As an 18-year-old college girl, the prospect of this made me feel very uncomfortable and violated.
I said I wouldn’t go unless my boyfriend came with me. After all, it takes two people for PDA to happen so why is only one being talked to? But like the misogynist he is, Mr. Stephens did not allow my boyfriend to come with me, or even request to meet with him at all.
The meeting was some variation of the message I had heard many times, which is basically using spiritual language to explain that nobody wants a dirty whore. I had already experienced being separated by gender in high school to get the talk about premarital sex. While the boys were playing silly team building games, the girls were hearing all about how if we have premarital sex, we are no different than a chewed up piece of gum on the ground that no man will ever want.
The boys didn’t need to get this talk, any more than the boyfriends needed to get lectured by the dean. The narrative was that their worth is not measured by their purity and they can’t help themselves anyway, so why put the effort into stopping them?
During the meeting, Mr. Stephens told me that people had complained specifically about me. I was confused and bewildered because there were other students on campus who did a lot more PDA than us and I couldn’t believe that anyone would complain specifically about me unless they hated me for some reason. This caused me to look at a lot of people around me with suspicion until I learned he had said that to at least 6 other girls (that I know of). Apparently, in order to really drive the point home, each girl needs to feel like she is the most whorish by being singled out individually.
I panicked and texted my boyfriend that people had complained specifically about us being affectionate in public, so we have to stop the PDA. He promptly flipped out on me and then started a long period of silence. The message was clear, if I wanted to be with him, I can’t object to kissing and other affection in public when he wants it.
Women who were raised in Christianity are expected to be the gatekeepers and prevent sex (or in this case, kissing in public) from happening since men just can’t control themselves. At the same time, we are also taught that men are the authority and we are not to say no to them.
How are we expected to suddenly become strong and confident and say no to men when the word “no” is stolen from our mouths from the time we learn to speak? How did Tom Stephens expect the conversation to go when girls go back to their boyfriends and tell them that we can’t have public displays of affection when there are no actual consequences for the men?
My boyfriend then went to Mr. Stephens’ office himself to ask about the complaints. Mr. Stephens was quick to assure him that he hasn’t done anything wrong and nobody has complained. He just wants to make sure the girls don’t let things get out of hand since guys need to be reined in sometimes. I guess he thought it would be too big a task to stop all the horny men on campus, so he delegated that to their girlfriends. It is now the responsibility of all girls on campus to summon the courage greater than that of Tom Stephens himself to stop the horny men. Just what every 18-year-old girl needs, school sanctioned rape culture.
I wish I could have stood up for myself at the time but I didn’t have the skillset that I have now, to examine a practice that is wrong and unethical, instead of automatically feeling guilt that is not mine. I am grateful for the positive influences I had within the English department and wish that more of my experiences at Jessup could have been positive as well. Bigotry is not a requirement for Christianity, which means the bigots at Jessup are doing it by choice. A discussion should be had about how faith can be practiced in a way that promotes equality and inclusion.
Courtney Baker
Conclusion: Sexism and Purity Culture
While there are more personal stories to come from us on other forms of discrimination and the harmful culture at Jessup, we also encourage you to look at other experiences of harm shared by former students that are not affiliated with our efforts.
An Instagram account called @JessupStories was created in 2020 where current and former students have shared harmful or discriminatory experiences they saw or lived at William Jessup University. While unaffiliated with our efforts, we support their work to provide an Avenue to anonymously share experiences and shine a light on the culture of William Jessup University.
Sexism and Purity Culture: Resources
Included here are some resources to learn more about the damaging ideology of Sexism and Purity Culture and how to recover from it.
Article by a WJU Alumni:
An alumni and published author Carly Gelsinger wrote an article in 2018 about the dangers of purity culture. Though about purity culture as a whole and how it relates to politics, it includes references to experiences in college as well. You can read it here:
Additional Articles:
Books:
