After following complaints by women, and almost a year-long review, the board of the Bible College of South Australia (BCSA) has issued a “a full and unreserved apology to all women who have had negative experiences with us.” The board adds: “We acknowledge that this is completely unacceptable, and we are fully committed to making every change within our power to ensure that there are no further regrettable or hurtful incidents at the College, and that the overall culture of the College is improved.”
The college is an evangelical and interdenominational institution based in the inner south of Adelaide. BCSA is an affiliated college of the Australian University of Theology. The college celebrated its centenary in 2024.
The review was led by Rev. Jo Gibbs of Reach Australia.
The board lists findings from the review
• Allegations of sexual harassment (but noted they had already been addressed by management)
• Under-representation of women on the faculty
• Inappropriate jokes and comments made by some male students
• Exclusion of some female students from some conversations
• A lack of female scholars represented in lecturers’ bibliographies
• A sense of isolation of women in upper-level classes, which had more men enrolled
• Some concerns about a complementarian agenda in the College.
The review also found “Structurally, several important policies and procedures were found to be either missing from the College’s policy suite or unknown to the student body, including those that enabled the raising of grievances.”
In their statement, the College Board reaffirms the leadership of the Principal Rev. Dr Tim Patrick “whose oversight of the College was explicitly commended in the report.”
The Board notes that increasing women teachers won’t be easy. “Increasing the number of women on faculty has already proven to be a challenge as we have sought to do so over the past decade. Even so, this will remain a priority for the Board and we are also considering other, creative ways that we can increase the number of women involved in our teaching and formation programs.”
The College policies and procedures will. be overhauled. “We trust that many of the changes being implemented will soon be felt positively across the culture of the whole College community. We also trust that the significant work which will go largely unseen— on things such as policies, procedures, and structures—will serve to deeply embed the desired changes and new patterns across all of our operations.”