Three weeks before graduation, he said he was informed by the Dean of Men that he was reported by another student for watching TV off-campus, and would be facing another round of demerits. He told CNN he was at an off-campus Starbucks, drinking coffee and watching “Glee” when he got called into the office and asked what he had been watching.

Former Bob Jones University student Chris Peterman expected to graduate on May 4. But on April 24, nine days before he was set to receive his diploma, the 23-year-old poli-sci major was suspended from school.

According to BJU, Peterman was suspended for a variety of infractions involving the school’s code of conduct. Most of the violations, Peterman says, involved his activity on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Peterman responded by uploading videos to CNN iReport alleging that he was the victim of a pattern of intimidation and coercion on the part of several BJU staff and administrators. He claims to have been forced out of school in retaliation for his activism against Chuck Phelps, a former BJU Board of Trustees member who was accused of covering up a sex-abuse scandal at the church where he served as pastor.

Carol Keirstead, BJU’s Chief Communications Officer, denied these allegations, and said the university could not comment on Peterman’s case because of a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act [FERPA].

“Outraged” by scandal
The Greenville, South Carolina-based college is well known for its Christian-conservative culture. BJU requires students to sign a covenant every year dictating permissible on- and off-campus behaviors. The school enforces strict prohibitions against the use of alcohol and drugs, premarital sex and public demonstrations for causes or institutions opposed by BJU.

In July 2010, allegations surfaced that former Pastor Phelps of Trinity Baptist Church in Concord, New Hampshire, had helped cover up repeated instances of sexual abuse committed more than a decade earlier by an older male parishioner against his step-daughter. The parishioner is currently serving a 15-30 year prison sentence on statutory rape charges.

The girl was impregnated, and she claimed in various media reports that then-Pastor Phelps compelled her to publicly apologize in front of the church congregation for the “sin” of her pregnancy. Phelps was accused of providing board for her in a guest room over his garage until the baby could be put up for adoption, according to reporting by ABC.

Phelps told CNN the girl was not coerced in any way. And in a statement released on his website, he said she “came before the congregation at Trinity Baptist Church voluntarily with her mother’s blessing.”

Phelps also explained his actions in the statement: “There was certainly no intent to cover up the allegations or hide [her],” the statement said. “I have always been committed to a policy of compliance and partnership with official investigations of any kind.”

When Peterman heard news of the initial allegations against Chuck Phelps, he was outraged that Phelps was allowed to continue to hold his chair as a Board member, Peterman said. He posted links about the story on his personal Facebook account, and was called into a meeting with BJU’s Dean of Men, Jon Daulton. The Deans of Men and Women are gender-specific assistants to the school’s Dean of Students.

“I was told that I’d have to stop posting that stuff, or I would be expelled,” Peterman said in an interview with CNN. The Dean of Men “said that the administration was upset with what I was saying. He said that the public relations department was following everything because it was giving Bob Jones a bad name.”

Keirstead said that BJU was not commenting on specific allegations made by Peterman, again citing FERPA guidelines.

Personal motivation
Peterman had a personal motivation behind his activism: A practicing Baptist, he has also witnessed a church cover-up of sexual abuse, he said.

“I knew this, so I had this desire to tell my story, and help other people tell their stories.” Peterman said he’d rather not give any more specifics on the incident, for fear of hurting and embarrassing his family and community.

In an effort to abide by BJU rules and continue his activism, Peterman created the “Do Right BJU” Facebook page, which drew considerable attention from BJU students and the local community. The group’s mission was, in Peterman’s words, to “provide a support and outreach network for victims of sexual abuse in the BJU community.”

Peterman said that he continued to share stories about the Phelps scandal on the “Do Right BJU” Facebook page.

In a follow-up interview with CNN, Phelps refuted any wrong-doing in the New Hampshire abuse case, and pointed to the statement on his web site that defended his actions.

When Peterman created the Facebook page and organized a “Do Right BJU” protest on December 12, 2011, he was told by the Dean of Men to shut it down immediately, he said. He said he told the Dean he believed his actions were protected by the First Amendment, and that the Department of Education expressly protected his activism.

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