Cedarville University President Says He Didn't Know the Full Story: On Leave While Investigators Examine Staff Hiring

The board of trustees at Cedarville University has placed President Thomas White on administrative leave, awaiting results from investigations into the hiring of a staff member, Dr. Anthony Moore, and his relationships with students.

On May 1, the board announced the hiring of an outside firm to conduct the two investigations and the appointment of Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Loren Reno as acting president while it placed White on leave.

It added the investigation into Moore's relationships with Cedarville students would focus on whether anything inappropriate happened on or off-campus and that findings would go to the board before being released to the Cedarville University community-at-large.

The findings from the investigation focusing on Moore's hiring will go just to the board.

In an April 24 blog post, White describes hiring Moore in late 2017 after the Village Church in Ft. Worth, Texas, fired him as its campus pastor.

Village pastor Matt Chandler announced the firing to his congregation in January of 2017, saying Moore had committed "grievous, immoral actions" against another adult member.  

"We believe he is unfit for ministry at this time, including speaking engagements and conferences for other churches," Chandler added.

White said that Moore, a former student, called him at the time to let him know what was happening.

"He told me he had wronged another person in a morally serious way using video and technology, but his transgression was not physical in nature," said White.

White said he decided to hire Moore after his former student reached out to him again in June of 2017 and presented a restoration plan.

"He told me that this idea came from a nationally recognized expert on same-sex attraction, who was also a friend, and some of the elders at the Village Church," said White.  

The 5-year restoration plan included accountability partners at Cedarville and limited contact with students.

Moore quickly advanced during his time at Cedarville. He started as a multicultural recruiter in 2017. On Oct. 4, 2018, the board of trustees voted to grant him a faculty title and allowed him to teach in Cedarville's School of Biblical and Theological Studies. 

In November of 2018, White announced that he had appointed Moore as his special advisor on kingdom diversity.

Investigative reporter Julie Roys says Moore led Cedarville students off campus on trips, including a 5-day tour focusing on civil rights in 2019.

White says he didn't know key parts of Moore's story when he hired him. He says that he learned during a phone call on April 22nd that Moore had taken not two but at least five videos of the adult member at Village Church in Texas and that instead of it being over a short period of time it took place over a period of at least five months. 

He also learned about an "unhealthy friendship." In addition, White says that Moore had not shared these details with the two people at Cedarville who were counseling him.

"If I had known these items at the beginning, I would not have attempted the plan for restoration," he said.