Judge orders California Bible college to cease operations after state hearing [View all]

A Christian Bible school in Riverside County was ordered to cease operations after a recent state hearing into multiple allegations over failures to properly educate and maintain records.

Amid student accusations of forced and unpaid labor at Olivet University, which is headquartered in the high-desert town of Anza, Calif., school leaders leaders tried to protect the university’s fate against state regulators’ attempts to revoke its license.

Presiding Judge Debra Nye-Perkins, who presided over the Office of Administrative Hearings, ordered the school to halt the enrollment of new students and help current students figure out a plan to finish their degrees elsewhere. The decision was finalized on Dec. 10 and goes into effect on Jan. 10.

“The only degree of discipline that would protect the public is the revocation of respondent’s approval to operate,” she wrote in her decision, ordering the school to pay more than $64,000 for violations. Nye-Perkins had 30 days to issue her ruling after the three-day hearing in early November,

Olivet said in a statement that it will appeal the judge’s order and has submitted an application to continue operating in California under “religious exemption.”

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-12-17/judge-orders-olivet-university-to-cease-operations-after-state-hearing