IUPUI calls Campus Reform correspondent 'not to be trusted' after 'Introduction to Bondage' piece: EXCLUSIVE
IUPUI recently canceled its 'Introduction to Bondage' workshop after a Campus Reform correspondent student wrote about the event, resulting in backlash online.
Campus Reform obtained an email from the school in which an official said the correspondent is 'not someone who can be trusted' and discouraged faculty and staff from sharing comment with him.
A university official in Indianapolis recently referred to one of the school’s students, who is also a former Campus Reform correspondent, as “not someone who is to be trusted” after he wrote a story for a local news outlet detailing the school’s “Introduction to Bondage” workshop.
Jacob Stewart, a reporter for The Collegiate Commons and student at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), published the story just days before the event’s scheduled date. As Campus Reform reported on Feb. 7, the school ultimately removed the event from its “Healthy Relationships Week” lineup.
Stewart was a Campus Reform correspondent at the time of the article’s publication but it is not as of April 2024.
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Eric Weldy, the vice chancellor for student affairs at the university, emailed faculty on Feb. 5, stating, “it is important that our staff not have direct contact with any media outlet, especially one that is not legitimate,” in reference to The Collegiate Commons.
The outlet is committed to “preserving the Christian intellectual and social tradition in higher education.”
Weldy also accused Stewart of being biased in his reporting, “Jacob is not someone our staff should be sharing information directly with. He is not someone who can be trusted to be unbias [sic] in his writings.”
Weldy additionally blamed Ryan Anderson, an assistant director for the IUPUI Office of Health and Wellness, for his communication with the student journalist. Anderson reportedly gave The Collegiate Commons details on what would take place during the workshop.
“I have never had the privilege of interacting with Dr. Weldy, so I’m curious to know what about The Collegiate Commons makes it illegitimate in his eyes, and what about me as a person he finds untrustworthy,” Jacob Stewart told Campus Reform. “My journalism has been nothing but factual.”
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“My experience at IUPUI has taught me that a good leader is someone who takes responsibility for his actions,” Stewart stated. “It’s disappointing to see that someone elevated to such a high status in the university would not only fail to ensure transparency about such a ridiculously irresponsible event (paid for by student fees), but also choose to malign a student as biased and blame them for simply sharing the facts that he should have.”
Stewart also added that “Holding the administration accountable does not make someone biased.”
Campus Reform has contacted IUPUI and Eric Weldy for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
