By Art Gomez
Most mountain residents are familiar with the existence of the Olivet University campus in Anza. Some might not know that the school has campuses and offers courses in six states and the District of Columbia. Others might even know of the various legal troubles it has gone through over the years.
Late last year, Administrative Law Judge Debra D Nye-Perkins found against Olivet University on all 14 allegations made by California Attorney General Rob Bonta on behalf of the state education regulator, the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE).
The Christian college has vowed to stay open in spite of a California judge’s ruling that bars the school from enrolling new students and requires current students to be sent to other schools.
California is now the second state to bar Olivet University, a school with ties to South Korean minister David Jang, from operating a campus. In 2022, officials in New York state decided not to renew Olivet’s license to run a campus in Dover, New York, citing alleged financial mismanagement. In 2020, the school agreed to pay more than half a million dollars in fines for improperly removing asbestos from its Dover campus, also home to the World Olivet Assembly.
In 2023, a lawsuit filed by Texas-based company 8fig accuses the World Olivet Assembly, the church founded by Jang, of using a network of online storefronts and other companies to defraud it of more than $6.5 million. Olivet University President Park is one of the defendants in that case.
The parties to the suit are in settlement talks.
Olivet’s main campus in Anza, says it has applied for a religious exemption to remain open, despite a ruling from California’s Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education revoking the school’s license to operate. In the decision that takes effect this month, Judge Debra Nye-Perkins of the Office of Administrative Hearings found that the school failed to educate students properly and that it has not maintained adequate educational records, according to the Los Angeles Times.
In a statement posted on its website, the school said it would appeal the decision to revoke its license. “In addition to pursuing the appeal, Olivet University has made the decision as of December 11 to operate under religious exemption in California, and submitted its application same day,” according to the statement. “This step reflects the University’s commitment to continuing its mission and activities while upholding its core values and principles as a Christian institution.”
In 2020, the Christian college and former publishers of Newsweek and The Christian Post, which also have ties to Jang, pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining $35 million in loans. The loans were supposed to be used to purchase computers but were used for other purposes. The chair of the board of Olivet pled guilty and served no jail time but was banned from the school’s board. The school also agreed to repay $1.25 million.
Residents might remember that Olivet University is also at the center of a criminal investigation that became public in 2021 when agents
of the Homeland Security Department searched the Anza campus looking for evidence of labor trafficking, money laundering and visa fraud. A group of former students of Olivet, many of them from countries in Asia, sued the college, accusing school leaders of forcing them to perform unpaid labor and controlling their movements.
“At all times while Plaintiffs lived at Olivet’s Anza campus, they were not permitted to come and go from campus unless they first received permission from an Olivet employee,” a complaint in the lawsuit alleges, the LA Times reported, last year.
“As a former student who experienced firsthand the lies, manipulation, and abuse at Olivet University, I am relieved by California’s decision to revoke the institution’s accreditation,” Tingbo Cao, 41, said in a statement to the Times. “This action validates the concerns I—and many others—have raised over the years and helps ensure that future students will not suffer the same injustices that I did.”
The ruling from Judge Debra Nye-Perkins to revoke the school’s state license also includes an order to pay a $64,000 fine and to assist its students in finding other ways to complete their education.
If Olivet is shut down in California, Jang could potentially maintain his foothold in religious education via other colleges. One of those schools, Jubilee University, billed as a Christian music college, was also the subject of an investigative report published last month by Missouri-based television affiliate Fox4.
Olivet leaders did not reply to a request for comment but have denied any wronging in the past.
Art Gomez
