SERIES INTRODUCTION: Survivor advocate Lisa Schirch’s voice provides Part 3 in this series of posts by those who want the opportunity to respond to the findings released in November by Eastern Mennonite University’s (EMU) hired compliance firm D. Stafford and Associates (DSA). Read Part 1 by Stephanie Krehbiel here and Part 2 by Lisa Schirch here. Today Dr. Schirch provides her analysis of the wider context for the DSA report by looking at Mennonite institutional patterns and the Pandora’s box of secrets the church continues to keep under tight control. If you are new to this story here’s some background: In August of 2016 EMU hired DSA in order to, among other things, look into matters brought to light on this website in April of 2016 by two remarkable sisters: Lauren (Benner) Shifflett and Marissa (Benner) Buck. They wrote in detail about the hidden abuses of a former EMU vice president and how the church officials, to whom those abuses were eventually reported, failed to act in the interests of the public safety or in a way that made it safer for additional victims to come forward. Lauren and Marissa also wrote about why they chose to decline participation in EMU’s DSA inquiry. You can find those articles here and here. If you are burning with an untold story of your own to tell, please contact us. If you have seen, suspected […]
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