Appalachian Bible College Whistleblowers to Receive No Relief From Accreditation Agency

Association for Biblical Higher Education Commission on Accreditation accepts college’s response.

Professors who say they were fired from Appalachian Bible College in West Virginia in retaliation for filing a complaint with the Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE) will get no relief from the accrediting agency.

Melissa and Jeremy Yowell / Photo via Facebook

In May 2024, Jeremy and Melissa Yowell — both music department faculty members — were fired after filing a complaint with ABHE alleging that Rosalie Anderson, wife of Appalachian’s president Daniel Anderson, exhibited “a pattern of behavior that is inconsistent with Christian integrity and professional teaching standards.”

The Yowells complained that the Andersons created a hostile learning environment for students through verbal and psychological harassment.

After requiring the school to submit a report in response, the ABHE Commission on Accreditation (COA) sent a letter last month to the Yowells saying that no further action would be taken on the matter at this time.

ABHE required Appalachian to reply by November with a progress report addressing the following standards:

• Standard 3: EE 2, 5 (Documented evidence of handbooks that describe and govern various institutional relationships with students, faculty, staff, and board, including appropriate policies, procedures, and grievance procedures; documented evidence of effective policies that address provision of redress of harassment that might be experienced by institutional stakeholders [e.g., students, staff, and faculty])
• Standard 4: EE 3, 7 (Documented evidence of a governing board that has the necessary authority and exercises legal power for the operation of the institution, including documented evidence of a conflict-of-interest policy for board members that addresses issues such as employment, family, or other personal interests of the institution.)
• Standard 9a: EE 1 (Documented evidence of a spiritually mature faculty who engage in modeling and mentoring relationships with students.)
• Standard 9a: EE 7 (Systems for evaluating and improving the instructional effectiveness of all faculty.)

The commission acknowledged receipt of the Yowells’ complaint for retaliatory dismissal and accepted the institution’s response.

In response to the ABHE letter, Jeremy and Melissa Yowell told MinistryWatch in an email, “[W]e are genuinely surprised at the COA’s apparent lack of action. We feel that the COA, despite acknowledging our concerns, has not made meaningful efforts to investigate the issues at hand.”

The Yowells believe the COA did “very little to investigate these allegations” and provided “little transparency” to the Yowells about Appalachian’s response.

“As the ones filing the complaint, very little has been done to assure us that our concerns were legitimately investigated and either confirmed or denied with evidence,” the Yowells said. “All communication from the COA appears to uphold the innocence of Appalachian Bible College, while failing to acknowledge the issues that we have submitted.”

The Yowells are now questioning the value of accreditation by ABHE. They said ABHE’s action leads them “to believe that the [ABHE] is more concerned with keeping its member institutions than thoroughly addressing formal complaints and inciting positive change and excellence within its member institutions.”

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Additionally, Melissa Yowell filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in August, alleging that Appalachian Bible College had terminated her employment after she filed the ABHE complaint.

The OCR dismissed her complaint because it didn’t assert that Yowell had experienced an adverse action based on “protected activity.” According to the OCR, filing a complaint with ABHE did not qualify as a protected activity under the laws that OCR enforces.

The Yowells remain concerned about the students at Appalachian Bible College who they say “will continue to experience the confusion and real hurt of spiritual abuse and hypocrisy.”

They believe the atmosphere at the college is “dangerous,” “fosters an environment where all kinds of abuse are ignored,” and “fails to educate students in how to be critical thinkers.”

Appalachian Bible College is an independent private Bible college near Beckley, West Virginia, founded in 1950. It has approximately 250 students and about 13 academic staff. Daniel Anderson has been president of the college since 1983.

MinistryWatch did not receive a reply from Appalachian Bible College after multiple attempts.

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