Surprisingly, going against everything Mark said in this phone call, the Recovering Alumni Response website was put up less than a month after he promised a thorough investigation. Its also interesting to note that they put it up on the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend.
This is the conversation that transpired when I called Mark to discuss it. I didn’t get the beginning recorded very well, but if I remember correctly, he was at an outlet mall with his wife and didn’t have much time to talk.
RA: Did you know that they basically closed the investigation and said that pretty much, everything’s ok?
Mark: Um…pause…I haven’ t seen it so I don’t know what to tell you. I want to read it before I comment talk to you and comment about it.
RA: Ok, well, were you aware that the investigation was over?
Mark: Long Pause
No.
After this conversation with Mark on May 28th, I sent Mark a follow up email on June 2nd. This is where things turn sour.
Hi Mark,
I’m still anxious to hear from you as the website has been up now for 5 days. I was really surprised to read the Board’s response as it did not at all mirror our last conversation. As you might recall, when we last spoke, you assured me that a panel would be convened to do conduct a thorough investigation. You also said that you would publicly declare who was on the panel and what their expertise was. However, according to the website, this panel and investigation seems like a total sham. I really hope I am wrong about that. Please help me understand this. The only “expert” analysis on the website comes from a psychologist whose children attended the HA and whose brother is on staff. There is no possibly objectivity in that, aside from the fact that he didn’t even do an investigation! He only commented on his own kids and other kids he’d seen socially. That is hardly “thorough.”
If this is really the Board’s response, I have several questions which I was led to believe you would provide answers to:
Who was on the panel?
What has supposedly changed in the HA from the time of these complaints? (Note: Several of the stories are from the past 3-5 years.)
How many people were interviewed? How were they contacted and how long did their interviews take? Was there fair representation from past, recent and current participants?
How many man hours did this investigation take?
And lastly, why did the Board reveal my gender?
I am really befuddled by all of this – especially since you seemed very genuine in our phone conversations. I look forward to your response and hope that there is an objective, independent investigation to come.
RA
Personally, I feel that in light of the situation, this email was very, very respectful on my part. None of these questions came as a surprise to him nor are they out of line in any way. As you know by listening to our prior conversation, Mark told me that he would be happy to provide all this information.
He responded to me later that day with this very painful email:
I have now seen the site and have read the expert letters. My hesitation to respond to your list is that I feel that you are trying desperately to paint me into a corner. Public responses (like the one from the BOD) seek to safeguard the ministry and all of the individuals who are involved. This includes your readers who shared their stories. There are no “Bad” people here. The entire BOD is trying to improve a ministry that has been in existence for years. Entities like this do not transform overnight or in four or five months. We are seeking good council and seeking truth. We are working on improving all elements of TMM including the HA experience. We as a BOD care deeply for the students. The processes are not yet perfect but the group is trying.
I am unable to share interim details with you first, due to my fiduciary responsibility to the ministry and secondly, because of the email blast that went out this Spring to all alumni. The list was stolen from the ministry. The list was used without permission. The trust factor has been damaged.
I really can’t even tell you how disappointing this email was. Not only is Mark totally going back on his word but now he is also trying to paint me as the bad guy. He tries to reframe my asking him legitimate questions as “painting him into a corner.” Then he blames me for damaging “the trust factor.” The so called “stolen” email list has never been a problem before, so why bring it up now? (As all alumni know, the emails are available on the official alumni website. Sheesh!) Again, its an attempt to shift the responsibility off of an abusive, lying ministry and onto me, the whistleblower. Even if it was a stolen list – wouldn’t that pale in comparison to the fact that PEOPLE ARE BEING ABUSED? Instead of the investigation, which Mark specifically said would not be a whitewashing or brushing under the rug, we get the same old vague platitudes about seeking truth and making changes.
These are classic Teen Mania tactics:
1) Ignoring the problems and blaming the person who points the problem out.
2) Moving the goal posts whenever they feel like it. “Sure, I’ll tell you all about the panel and the investigation.” “No, I can’t tell you due to my fiduciary responsibility. And you are wrong to even ask.”
3) Vague promises of change with no specifics articulated
I feel I have fulfilled my duty to point out the injustice and abuse at Teen Mania. They clearly do not want to hear it.
14 comments:
I feel we need to do more to show these abuses. Could we stage some kind of event or something? Make up some kind of flyer to hand out at our own local ATF events showing people what kind of place they are listening to? Get some larger media sources involved? Just an idea….
September 21, 2010 8:29 AM
Shannon Kish said…
All of our emails are available for all to see on the Alumni site. There is no boundaries as to what one could do with those emails. In fact, if I recall correctly, there was a MASS email sent out from a GI asking for money. The GI revealed the emails so everyone that got the email also got to see 100s of email addresses.
I get unsolicited emails from TMM all the time, whether it is to tell me about a GE trip or to complain that an alumni who has access to my email account freely emailed me and that this is somehow a violation of some sort.
It sounds like Mr. Lew is on the defensive because he knows that he flat out lied to you and now has no answer for why he lied to you or anything similar.
And to think, there is an entire FB group dedicated to helping Mr. Lew become the next ORU president.
Christianity at its best.
September 21, 2010 8:29 AM
Maurice Moss said…
BRB, vomiting.
September 21, 2010 8:47 AM
Stephanie said…
I never thought the email thing was a big deal, regardless of how it was gotten… and as you said, many alumni make their emails public, the ability to contact one another is part of having an alumni association… (rolls eyes).
Just come out in the open… sure there will be some heat, some discomfort, but if they would just do this… I feel like true change could be made…
By those who work at TM are afraid, and it’s making them behaving shamefully. Uggh!
September 21, 2010 9:43 AM
heartsfire said…
There is a song that most of us know that was popular among christians when I was a younger teen. It says: I wanna be in the light as you are in the light…..
My question to TM can you really say you are in the light when you are hiding things and lying to the very teens you claim to be all about once we grow and learn our own discernment?
Sadly not all of us can come out about who we are due to job issues but for those who can I hope we can walk in the light as much as possible.
September 21, 2010 10:03 AM
Nunquam Honorablus said…
Ditto Maurice’s comment.
I WANT to be surprised. I WANT to doubt that the Machine has this much of a grip on people.
I WANT to be able to fondly remember my two-year involvement with this ministry, to not have every memory tinged with shame, to not want to crawl in a hole whenever I remember something I said or believed out of blind “zeal”.
I DO believe that Hasz and Luce still have good intentions, but I CAN’T believe that they’re innocent.
I have no idea what I believe.
But here’s what I know.
I KNOW the the Honor Academy is a breeding ground for emotional, spiritual, and physical negligence. I KNOW that people have been abused there, oftentimes shamelessly or in the name of God, regardless of whose “fault” it is.
I KNOW that abuse happened.
I KNOW that half-assed lipservice from the powers that be isn’t going to solve anything.
So, I give up.
I’m done hoping that the ministry can be anything better or that it will ever be worth the pain.
And with that, I can’t believe Teen Mania to be anything but hopeless. A pipe dream that’s long outlived its prime.
… I’d like to be able to eat those words someday.
For now, all we can do is love the ones that came from it, love the abusors, and love the ones stuck in the middle.
Love.
Just, love.
That’s all I know.
September 21, 2010 10:48 AM
hitchcockhill said…
I’m not surprised at all. When I personally emailed Mark to find out why the process was so short and didn’t live up to what we were told – I wasn’t surprised at his response. It wasn’t at all what he sounded like in the phone call. This doesn’t surprise me one bit. If the content of the phone call and the resulting website don’t show you the corruption at the Teen Mania Youth Abuse Center in Garden Valley Texas – then nothing probably will.
September 21, 2010 10:50 AM
Shiloh said…
Apparently they do not want to hear it. Wow. That’s pretty ridiculous. I don’t really understand the mega church industry but it looks just as effed up as Wal*mart and Mc Donald’s (only poor T.M. doesn’t have that much back up… maybe someday their dreams will come true.) They don’t SEEM to be finding their honor in God’s ways but in the worlds.
I only pray that for the ones that are saved involved with all of this that their hearts would be preserved and God would do what He has to do to keep them next to Him in this life.
And that the ones who have been hurt so badly would be able to ‘recover’ well and God would use what the devil intended for evil, for His glory.
“Thank You Jesus that You are so freaking amazing.”
This is all so unbelievable. It’s hard to judge their motives because no one wants to judge a person… but for real… this is crazy.
September 21, 2010 11:07 AM
Eric P. said…
“Honor Academy” is apparently one of those things like the English Horn or the Holy Roman Empire–it got its name by being nothing of the kind. It’s not an academy (it’s a free labor force) and it’s definitely not honorable. This isn’t good Christian ethics; this isn’t even good business ethics. Heck, I know some Chicago politicians who’d be ashamed to act the way these teachers of “honor” do.
So I think it’s time for some new marketing:
Hey parents! Want your kids to learn about integrity, Christian character, honesty, truthfulness, excellence, ethics, and keeping your commitments?
Here’s a great idea– send them to study for a year with a bunch of liars!
If you think this is the best thing since pre-digested bread, wait till you hear about our latest projects: The Bernie Madoff School of Financial Investment, The Ed Wood Academy for Excellence in Film, The Richard Nixon Memorial Foundation for Political Ethics, and The Great Big Pile of Cow Manure Center for Surgical Hygiene.
Give your kids to us. We certainly won’t ever abuse them, hurt them, overwork them, or take advantage of them–honest!
September 21, 2010 12:40 PM
MissPriss said…
I understand how they were wrong in replying to your questions and they do seem to be beating around the bush with their letter to the alumni. Are they really planning anything at all? It’s already September! But isn’t it true that ESOAL is not required of students, just offered? And, if they do it and decide they do not wish to continue, they can quit? For me, I think it would be fun if I were in the Honor Academy to try and complete this. It would be like a physical challenge and like one of those “Survivor” type shows.
September 22, 2010 1:39 AM
Shannon Kish said…
MissPriss,
ESOAL is not a “required” event for the HA, however, many people feel pressured into doing it and feel that their christianity or their devotion to God is called into question if they don’t participate or finish, finish the event.
September 22, 2010 9:08 AM
Julie said…
It’s not just a matter of Teen Mania being wrong about one thing, it is a pattern of behavior and a culture that reinforces that pattern of behavior. Teen Mania probably could have avoided a lot of this negative publicity by just giving a genuine and specific apology to those who have been hurt by the program. “Oh, we’ve changed that” is not an apology and does nothing to heal the injustice that was done to someone who experienced it before it was changed. “We’re sorry you had a bad experience” is not an apology for a specific offense like an intern being viciously verbally abused by a staff person Teen Mania hired. I assume TM has been reluctant to give very specific apologies that show remorse for actions on Teen Mania’s end because they don’t want to open themselves up to liabilty for those actions. But that has left many participants walking around with deep wounds caused by injustices that were done to them and the shallow apologies from TM, accusations of lying and bitterness against the wounded, and the usual exhortation to “Just get over it” have not brought anyone healing and have mostly caused an even deeper sense of injustice, that the ministry refuses to take true accountability for their actions. I know a lot of people who have posted on this site. I know RA. Many of these people were not “”bad seeds,” just the opposite, they were the super interns we were encouraged to be like. And after they were used up, broken, and spit out (causing some to need counseling, some to feel they can never please God, and some to lose their faith altogether) the TM answer is “Get over it,” while people beg for a little love and compassion.
September 22, 2010 10:35 AM
Nunquam Honorablus said…
MissPriss-
Correct. 🙂
However, during my year, we were told to look at ESOAL as first and foremost a SPIRITUAL experience. If you were just doing it for the physical challenge, you had the wrong heart.
This was in 2007.
So, while I don’t see a problem with a strictly physical challenge like this, pressuring interns into a spiritualized HOO-RAH is why ESOAL is so jacked up.
September 22, 2010 10:49 AM
Anonymous said…
Well said Julie.
September 22, 2010 4:23 PM