New York Shuts Down Embattled Olivet University Campus

After a money laundering case and dozens of lawsuits, the Christian college founded by David Jang is under new scrutiny from Christian accreditors.

New York shut down troubled Christian college Olivet University’s campus on June 30, citing financial mismanagement and “a well-established pattern of non-compliance with laws, rules, and regulations.” In a letter denying Olivet’s appeal of the state’s decision, New York cited more than 50 lawsuits filed against Olivet over the past decade and 20 tax liens.

The school was founded by pastor David Jang, whose Olivet church is connected to a web of nonprofits and businesses, including media companies like Newsweek and the International Business Times. The wife of a former Olivet trustee had promoted Jang as a messiah who will complete God’s earthly mission, according to former members of Jang’s community.

Olivet University is based in California but has extension campuses around the country, including in New York, where the campus has operated since 2012. Historically many of Olivet’s students were Asian with student visas. The school has no relation to Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois or Olivet College in Michigan.

Like fellow businesses and ministries linked to Jang’s movement, the university has had high-profile legal problems in recent years. In 2020, a school trustee and an affiliated business partner pleaded guilty to money laundering charges, related to fraudulently obtaining $35 million in financing for Olivet University. The school itself also pleaded guilty to two charges related to the fraud and agreed to pay a $1.25 million fine.

After that case, the leadership of the school largely remained the same—a factor New York cited in its decision to shut the upstate New York campus down. The state had been reviewing Olivet’s case for two years.

In April, ...