Welcome to the Interpreter
Cedarville’s mission is education through the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
So is ours.
Cedarville’s Handbook focuses on third-tier Christianity, not the core of the gospel.
Focusing on outreach, inclusivity, and truth ought to be at the center of Cedarville’s student expectations. Instead, the handbook remains riddled with archaic legalism and inconsistency.
Latest News…
Silenced but Not Alone: A horrifying (and relatively short) compilation of Cedarville’s Title IX failures
This article will break the format of our standard publication because, for those who have been readers for a long time, some of these stories may be familiar. That is because in light of recent events—and Cedarville’s unending failure to address sexual crimes on its campus—I thought it may be helpful to compile the stories…
The Elephant in the Closet: A Male Perspective on Purity Culture
I still remember the image. It’s burned into my mind. I was fourteen when my dad called me into his room. On the bed were two sheets of blank paper and a bottle of Elmer’s glue. He sat me down to talk to me about the dangers of relationships. There was no talk of the…
Why Purity Culture is Toxic: A Female Perspective
This article was written by a female and will be followed by an article from a male perspective about purity culture. My experience with purity culture This past summer, I watched a horror movie on Hulu titled Pure. It is the story of two girls and their father at a retreat focused on dads and…
My Story
My name is Jonathan Sweetman, a 22-year-old Air Force staff sergeant, Maryland native, Cedarville alumni, and the sole proprietor of The Cedarville Interpreter since February of 2021. I wanted to share my story because I think it provides valuable insight into the face behind what was once faceless content. I stayed anonymous for over a…
Whitewashed
When I came to Cedarville in October 2016, I saw Dr. Thomas White speak for the first time. At the time, I was a member at my parent’s church, a small Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)-loyal community in Southern Maryland. When he spoke, I couldn’t help but feel that he so perfectly embodied so much of…
Student Voices #003: Abandoned
Before we share this story, I must warn you that it is incredibly disturbing but yet incredibly important. Sexual assault is a cancer that grows in darkness and abuse must be exposed so that justice can come to fruition. This young woman experienced something unthinkable. What is more, she experienced something avoidable if it were…
Impractical, Immoral, and Illegal: Cedarville’s Dangerous Dress Code
Cedarville University maintains a dress code characterized by archaic principles of “modesty,” a term that is disproportionately applied to women to label them as distractions to men in the academic environment. Cedarville claims to strive for professionalism in its dress code but merely promotes gender stereotypes: men are sex-hungry and women must guard themselves by…
Checking the Pulse: Cedarville’s Chapel Experience
Cedarville University sells its chapel experience as the “heartbeat of campus.” In other words, chapel is a staple of the University and a defining feature of its character. Many prospective students and parents helping their children choose a school are drawn to Cedarville by the daily chapel that takes place during the week at the…
Defined by One Mistake: What One Student’s Dismissal Revealed about Cedarville’s Disciplinary Process
This article is written about an anonymous student’s experience with Cedarville’s disciplinary process relating to alcohol use and posession. The individual requested their name to be omitted, so we will be calling them “Hudson” for the duration of this article. If you know who this article is about, please respect their privacy and do not…
OP-ED: In light of disturbing divorce rates in the church, Christians must reexamine their outdated teachings on relationships
This op-ed was submitted by an anonymous student at Cedarville University who shared their unique perspective on marriage and divorce as someone who has experienced both. They argue that the problem does not lie with “secularism,” but with wrong teaching and toxic dating cultures, such as the one at Cedarville. Here is a confession: I…
Surviving CU
We are often asked: “How do I survive as a social or political moderate or even a liberal on such a conservative campus?” The meat of this question is a much more general principle we must all confront when we inevitably step out into the real world. That question is, “How do we operate in…
On De-essentializing Gender Roles
Below is an essay written by an anonymous Cedarville student. She does an excellent job of expressing her view of womanhood and egalitarianism with support from logic, ethics, and Scripture. She rightly points out how important it is for women to come to an understanding of their purpose, especially in an environment that twists it…
No Reasonable Expectation of Free Speech Rights: FIRE gives Cedarville “WARNING” Rating
This past spring, we reached out to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) in order to request an evaluation of Cedarville University’s free speech policies and procedures. We did this in order to supplement our article on free speech and provide a more quantitative evaluation from an unbiased third party. Unfortunately, FIRE was…
FUNDRAISER: Ohio Association of Foodbanks
Several months ago, we asked our followers on Instagram if they would be interested in merchandise, and the majority said yes. But we didn’t want to just drop a merchandise line to make profit for ourselves (because what would we even use it for?). We wanted it to have meaning and purpose. Because of this,…
Cedarville’s COVID-19 Response: In Review
At the onset of COVID-19, colleges and universities across the nation began to close down en masse. It was a nightmare for those who were not prepared and a nightmare for students who had to adapt to a learning style many had never experienced and few had enjoyed in the past. But Cedarville University pressed…
The Paige of Enlightenment (or not)
Right off the bat, I apologize for my puns (Age of Enlightenment…Paige of Enlightenment). But as we go on this journey together into the past of Dr. Paige Patterson–a former trustee at Cedarville University among many other titles–you will see that this man was practically the Anakin Skywalker of the Southern Baptist Convention. He was…
Who is the Justice Collective?
Hidden in the shadows, the elusive and borderline mystical “Justice Collective” weaves in and out of comment sections of Julie Roys, The Wartburg Watch, Righting America, and even here at the Cedarville Interpreter. In their own words, “We are an organization composed of Cedarville University alumni, professors, staff members, and former employees who insist that…
The Blame Game that Started with Eve pt. 3: Silence and Shame
This concludes our three part womanhood series. The Editorial Staff would like to extend its heartfelt gratitude to the anonymous female author of this series. These articles have been enlightening, edifying, and inspiring and we could not be more pleased with these submissions. For our readers, we hope you have enjoyed this series and we…
Student Voices #002
Our Student Voices series is a compilation of student stories with the intent to give voice to those who cannot speak out otherwise for fear of dismissal or judgement from their fellow students. To tell your story, send us a message through our contact form or by emailing cedarvilleinterpeter@gmail.com This marks our second “student voices”…
Caution or Cowardice: Addressing the Critics
“When the liberty of the Press shall be restrained. . . the liberties of the People will be at an end.” Merriweather Smith Transparency. Authenticity. Reliability. These three words have been used over and over to address problems with The Interpreter. After all, we exist as an anonymous website. However, we are students who want…
Doubling Down on Double Standards: Addressing the LGBTQ+ Community at Cedarville
Disclaimer: I am not member of the LGBTQ+ community, so my writing does not reflect the perspective of that community. My writing instead reflects the degree to which I understand the issue, which is admittedly far from comprehensive (hence this article taking months to write). I use the terms LGBT, LGBTQ+, “homosexual”, and gay interchangeably…
Cohesion or Adhesion? Groupthink at Cedarville
Albert Einstein wisely noted, “When we all think alike, no one thinks very much.” Many of us have heard of the theory of “groupthink,” which, at its core, is the idea that groups can be too similar and can become ineffective at best and abusive and totalitarian at worst. I began to wonder where this…
Student Voices: #001
Our Student Voices series is a compilation of student stories with the intent to give voice to those who cannot speak out otherwise for fear of dismissal or judgement from their fellow students. To tell your story, send us a message through our contact form or by emailing cedarvilleinterpeter@gmail.com This article contains two personal stories…
The Blame Game that Started with Eve, pt. 2: Virginity Rocks
This is part two of our three-part series on womanhood at Cedarville. In this article, our anonymous female student continues her contribution with input from our Editor to discuss virginity, purity, and pregnancy. Uh oh, sex. The topic that is so taboo that two biology professors told their students that they have had students in…
The Puppetmaster: Cedarville’s Interminable History of Censorship
There is nowhere where free speech is more important than colleges and Universities. These years are the most academically formative years of our lives. According to the Foundation of Individual Rights in Education, “Freedom of speech is a fundamental American freedom and a human right, and there’s no place that this right should be more…
“It was the Woman” – The Blame Game that Started with Eve
This begins our three-part series on womanhood at Cedarville University, written by an anonymous female student in tandem with our Editor. Part 1: Stumbling Blocks Picture This: You arrive on campus at Cedarville University as a wide-eyed freshman ready to experience your first taste of freedom. Your first day, yippee! As you walk into your…
Nonexistent: Mental Health at Cedarville
CU Later: The Unavailability of counseling services Cedarville, OH lies sandwiched between miles of corn fields and back roads and is notably sparse when it comes to counselors, especially on the budget of broke college students. So, when I first attended Cedarville University, I immediated applied for counseling services on campus. After applying in January,…
Dry Town: Why Cedarville Township exists as one of only hundreds of dry towns in the U.S.
From Jan 17, 1920-Dec 5, 1933, the United States amended Constitution to ban the sale or possession of alcohol. In Alcohol and public policy: beyond the shadow of prohibition, Paul Aaron and David Musto write that before prohibition, “Drunkenness was condemned and punished, but only as an abuse of a God-given gift. Drink itself was…
The Sobering truth of Cedarville’s Archaic Prohibition Rules
If you are a student at Cedarville, you know that the university resides in the historically dry town of Cedarville, OH. The university itself is also strongly anti-alcohol, arguing that consumption of alcohol is inconsistent with a Biblical lifestyle, even though Jesus drank wine and the Bible is filled with positive references to alcohol. In…
The Cedarville Interpreter 