Survivor Stories
“Right now, the university is under a final warning from its accrediting agency. They have been given one last chance to fix the violations, or they could lose accreditation altogether next year. But as far as I can see, the university is not telling the truth to current students.”
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Hello everyone. I want to share my personal story. A story of how my family and I were deceived, exploited, and abused by a so-called Christian university, Olivet University, for more than a decade.
In September 2011, my wife was admitted to the university with a full scholarship. I joined her two months later and came to the U.S. In the beginning, we weren't allowed to work legally in the U.S. But when I arrived, the university leaders told me that everyone, including spouses like me, had to work full-time, six days a week from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and sometimes late into the night. We were given no choice. I was forced to do labor. It was discussed as part of Christian life.
From January to December 2012, I worked in the student affairs department. In March of that year, I was instructed to fake student documents, including many bank statements, to prepare for a site visit from ABHE. ABHE is a school accrediting agency. At that time, I didn't understand that this was fraud, but now I realize I was made part of an organized scheme of deception. For all of this work, I was never paid a single dollar.
In 2013, I was told to work at a university-affiliated tech company, VeriCom. I worked over 200 hours per month and received very little, about $200 a month in cash. Later, I was forced into the university's e-commerce team. We sold refurbished phones as new on Amazon. The company used student passports, including mine and my wife's, to open online stores illegally. The income went to the university as donations, and low taxes were paid.
All students were used as machines, working 50 to 70 hours per week, earning $200 to $500 per month. There were no other benefits, no breaks. Many students got sick. Some pregnant women had miscarriages. They were forced to work too. Some were injured in car accidents from exhaustion. We were treated like modern-day slaves.
I enrolled in the university's Bachelor of IT program in 2013, and later the Master of Divinity program. But over 11 years, I only received two hours of in-person class per week. Almost all my other learning time came from watching old video recordings. Many of my instructors were not real faculty but fellow students from the organization. Some of them were students; they were unqualified and overworked. Classes were often chaotic, mixing bachelor's, master's, and PhD students all together. Some quarters I had only one class to choose, even though student visa law requires three classes per quarter, 12 credits per quarter. This was not a university. In my mind, it was an academic fraud machine.
The university used its mandatory chapel program to control our thoughts, words, and actions. To pass the chapel course, we had to attend early morning services every day around 5 a.m., evening meetings on Wednesdays and Fridays, and very long Sunday services. If I missed a morning service, even when I was exhausted and fatigued, I was threatened, humiliated, and told I had no faith. Leaders repeatedly told me I should leave the U.S. and return to China if I couldn't submit to the chapel system. This was not a Christian community; it was a spiritual abuse system.
From 2019 to 2020, I was asked to borrow money to help the university with its operation. But from 2021, they stopped repaying. I begged them many times, but they refused to repay. When I threatened legal action in 2024, they paid back a portion of it. But when I asked for the rest, they threatened to sue me. I was told directly by the school leaders they had enough money to sue any students who spoke out the truth. Another leader told my wife that if we said anything negative, they would take any action to harm my family. My wife couldn't sleep at those times; she was terrified.
In May 2022, after years of stress, debt, and forced labor, I suffered a stroke. Even at that time of hardship, the university refused to repay what they owed. They continued to abuse and harm not only me, but also my family – my brother, my mother, and father. They became deeply depressed watching what happened to me. Later, they offered a settlement of $50,000 only if my entire family signed a document promising to never speak negatively about the university again and to leave the U.S. immediately. Even our children would be stopped from talking with them for their whole life. That's when we escaped.
What happened to my family is not unique. It's happening to hundreds of students and others. As far as I know, the university's main campus alone owes more than $20 million to unpaid and overworked students. This university is a system of immigration fraud, labor trafficking, education fraud, financial coercion, and spiritual manipulation, all wrapped in the appearance of a Christian school.
For more than 10 years, my family lived in poverty, fear, and trauma. We came to the U.S. seeking education and a better life, but we were turned into slaves. We are still recovering from the physical, emotional, and financial damage they caused us.
Right now, the university is under a final warning from its accrediting agency. They have been given one last chance to fix the violations, or they could lose accreditation altogether next year. But as far as I can see, the university is not telling the truth to current students. Clearly, many of them have no idea what's going on behind the scenes. If they lose accreditation, students may lose their legal status, and their degrees might become worthless.
I share this not just for my own case, but also to warn current and future students. We have a right to know the truth. You have a right to know the truth. You have a right to protect your education, your safety, and your future. Please don't wait until it's too late.
Excerpts
A survivor who recently escaped the fraud and abuse by Olivet University leaders has shared his story in hopes that it encourages the United States government and states to take action to protect vulnerable foreign nationals trafficked here in the country. This individual has chosen to disguise his appearance and will be referred to as Victim #3 to protect his identity:
"Hello everyone. I want to share my personal story. A story of how my family and I were deceived, exploited, and abused by a so-called Christian university, Olivet University, for more than a decade.
In September 2011, my wife was admitted to the university with a full scholarship. I joined her two months later and came to the U.S. In the beginning, we weren't allowed to work legally in the U.S. But when I arrived, the university leaders told me that everyone, including spouses like me, had to work full-time, six days a week from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and sometimes late into the night. We were given no choice. I was forced to do labor. It was discussed as part of Christian life."
From the start, officials lure in vulnerable individuals hoping to better themselves with education and exploit them for their labor. Using their status as foreign students as a control mechanism, these students are stripped of their resources and ability to communicate. Many work over 200 hours a month without little to no income from their handlers, often paid in pocket change to avoid legally reporting taxable income while their passports are used to open new e-commerce storefronts on Amazon and other platforms. The work lacked benefits and students rarely saw the inside of a classroom or accredited higher education classroom environments.
"All students were used as machines, working 50 to 70 hours per week, earning $200 to $500 per month. There were no other benefits, no breaks. Many students got sick. Some pregnant women had miscarriages. They were forced to work too. Some were injured in car accidents from exhaustion. We were treated like modern-day slaves.
I enrolled in the university's Bachelor of IT program in 2013, and later the Master of Divinity program. But over 11 years, I only received two hours of in-person class per week. Almost all my other learning time came from watching old video recordings. Many of my instructors were not real faculty but fellow students from the organization. Some of them were students; they were unqualified and overworked. Classes were often chaotic, mixing bachelor's, master's, and PhD students all together. Some quarters I had only one class to choose, even though student visa law requires three classes per quarter, 12 credits per quarter. This was not a university. In my mind, it was an academic fraud machine."
Foreign nationals, most on approved student visas like Victim #3, lived in group housing at sites all over the United States and were subjected to threats to themselves in their family if they didn't adhere to high control tactics that dictated when to work, when to participate in religious activities, and when to sleep. This also extended to financial abuse, forcing students to borrow money from their parents to help fund the university in bankrolling its e-commerce business ventures. These funds were never paid back in full and family members were threatened if students objected or asked for repayment.
The impact on these vulnerable students is utterly deplorable. Here is Victim #3 in his own words:
"In May 2022, after years of stress, debt, and forced labor, I suffered a stroke. Even at that time of hardship, the university refused to repay what they owed. They continued to abuse and harm not only me, but also my family – my brother, my mother, and father. They became deeply depressed watching what happened to me. Later, they offered a settlement of $50,000 only if my entire family signed a document promising to never speak negatively about the university again and to leave the U.S. immediately. Even our children would be stopped from talking with them for their whole life. That's when we escaped.
What happened to my family is not unique. It's happening to hundreds of students and others. As far as I know, the university's main campus alone owes more than $20 million to unpaid and overworked students. This university is a system of immigration fraud, labor trafficking, education fraud, financial coercion, and spiritual manipulation, all wrapped in the appearance of a Christian school."
Victim #3 said he and his family were lucky to escape. But he had these final parting words to other victims who might still be trapped inside the Olivet University system today:
"I share this not just for my own case, but also to warn current and future students. We have a right to know the truth. You have a right to know the truth. You have a right to protect your education, your safety, and your future. Please don't wait until it's too late."