A Tennessee Christian private school may be committing the criminal offense of extortion following its recent decision to bar lesbian student Morgan Armstrong from campus and withhold her diploma after she came out to friends on social media.
Morgan posted photos of her and her girlfriend, captioned with, “cats outta the bag 👩🏼❤️💋👩🏻 🌈.” Just prior, she sent a private message to friends asking for their support, adding as a reason, “some ruthless Trump supporting ‘jesus’ mfs on there”.
Note that Morgan never mentioned the school or anyone connected with it.
The Tennessee Christian Preparatory School responded with an urgent request for a meeting, at which officials handed Morgan a letter barring her from senior activities, including graduation. The letter added:
The vulgar and disrespectful comment produced the wrong perception of who Tennessee Christian is and what we represent, Christ. The comment reflected on the institution, faculty, staff, alumni and students in the most negative possible way.
Additionally, the letter threatened Armstrong, saying:
Morgan will not comment about the school or people associated with the school. If online slander continues, records of posts and messages will be forwarded to colleges and universities as part of a comprehensive student file.
If the above are not adhered to, Morgan Armstrong’s diploma will be withheld and not mailed on June 15, 2025.
Subsequently, Morgan and her parents picketed just off the school’s campus during graduation. To that we say, “Great! Kudos for having the integrity to call a spade a spade.”
The school’s response
The school later issued a written statement to members of the media, saying:
Tennessee Christian Preparatory School firmly rejects the misleading allegations outlined in a recent lawsuit supposedly filed against the school. As of 11:00 AM on May 22, we have yet to be served with process for the alleged lawsuit.
The administration and Board of Trustees express deep disappointment over the inaccuracies contained in the alleged filing by Daniel A. Horwitz with Horwitz Law in Nashville. Despite this supposed legal dispute, Tennessee Christian remains fully committed to delivering Morgan Armstrong’s diploma.
Our goal continues to be the academic and personal success of each student, even in the face of conflict or disagreement.
We wish Morgan Armstrong the very best as she continues her academics in college.
Our reaction
First, let’s call a spade a spade: The school is engaging in spectacularly un-Christian behavior, including trying to lie about its actions and the old fuzz-and-blur routine, standard fare among church bullies. And to be clear: we don’t believe for an instant that the issue was Armstrong’s comment about hateful Christians. (Funny how school officials thought comment was about them, isn’t it?)
Think about it: The school admits it hasn’t been served with a copy of the lawsuit, yet it says the filing is inaccurate. How is that possible? Did school administrators get with the Witch of Endor and raise the spirit of the Prophet Samuel so they could see the future?
The reality is the school thought that it would be able to blitzkrieg Armstrong and she wouldn’t fight back. And in many faith communities, that’s how the ball rolls. But now and then, “Christian” bullies run into someone willing to fight back, and that’s what happened here. To that we say, “Go Morgan!”
Second, how does barring someone from campus further the school’s purportedly Christian goals? Christ invited all people to come unto him—not just those who look like us, think like us, vote like us, or love like us. So, if the school has a problem with Armstrong, her sexual orientation, or her social media comments, shutting down communication is not going to change anything.
Third, real leaders know that a hallmark of leadership is criticism. Indeed, it’s a given that a real leader will face criticism, and effective leaders welcome these opportunities for inflection. So, trying to shut down criticism of the school is counterproductive and sends a bad signal to students, which is that if you’re in a position of power, it’s okay to silence your critics forcibly.
Possible extortion by the school
While we examine these issues, we also need to revisit what appears to be Tennessee Christian’s criminal extortion.
Let’s begin by looking at how Tennessee defines extortion, a serious Class D felony.
Under state law, the definition of extortion is broad (emphasis added):
A person commits extortion who uses coercion upon another person with the intent to:
(1) Obtain property, services, any advantage or immunity; or
(2) Restrict unlawfully another’s freedom of action.
So what is the advantage that the school is seeking here?
The answer is in the school’s letter to Morgan:
Morgan will not comment about the school or people associated with the school.
Next, we turn to the element of coercion, which, per the school’s letter, is twofold in this case. Specifically:
- The school threatens to withhold Morgan’s diploma.
- The school threatens to tell colleges that she may apply to that she said naughty things about them, hurting their poor, precious widdle snowflake feelings. (If we were the admissions officer and saw something so incredibly stupid and mean-spirited from an alma mater, we’d give Armstrong bonus points towards admission.)
Sure sounds like extortion to us.
So, in addition to breach of contract and other civil remedies, let’s hope law enforcement takes action against the school and its employees in this case.
Bullying by the school
But potential criminal charges against the dolts who run this school isn’t the only problem we see in this case. We also have an issue with school officials using students as pawns in their reputation management games.
To be clear, the American legal system has long recognized that young people, still in their formative years, cannot be held to the same standards as adults.
Yet, in this case, school officials are jumping all over a student on a pretextual basis because they don’t like the fact she’s a lesbian. Either that, or it’s trying to show that freedom of speech isn’t a bedrock principle of American society—it’s something that only applies if you support a particular political candidate.
We’ve also heard from well-placed sources that numerous students at Tennessee Christian Preparatory School have experienced bullying by the administration, efforts to silence criticism, and more.
To be clear, that’s the modus operandi at many churches and schools.
For example:
- Episcopal priest Will Bouvel of the Diocese of Chicago perjured himself in an effort to shut down criticism by opponents of his ordination to the priesthood over his sexual orientation. (We say that as advocates of same-sex marriage and inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons in the church. But fair is fair, and Bouvel doesn’t get a pass over his criminal conduct just because he’s openly gay.)
- Vines and Branches, a “cottage school” connected with Calvary South Dayton Church in Dayton, OH, allegedly told a parent that it would dismiss her students from the school if this publication mentioned the school again. That’s abusive and pathetic, as children should not be used as pawns, and our comments about the school had, until that point, been positive. That, in turn, leads us to wonder why the school is so averse to publicity and why it thinks it can tell third-party media what to publish. Freedom of speech, anyone? Further, any school that uses students as pawns in a matter over which they have no control is inherently abusive, and all involved are welcome to quote us.
- The dozens of threats we get from clergy and churches telling us that if we don’t remove coverage, they’ll sue us, etc. Indeed, one woman, then in an adulterous relationship with a married Episcopal priest in Virginia, tried to tell us we had no business covering the story. All we can say in response is that making that claim takes real chutzpah. And while we couldn’t care less who she sleeps with, it is an issue when a priest has an adulterous relationship.
- And, of course, there are many additional examples we could cite.
Bullying by students
Nor is bullying by the school the only issue. Specifically, by setting a bad example, school administrators are telling students that it’s okay to behave poorly.
As a result, the good Christians of Tennessee Christian have, true to form, decided to shun Morgan and blocked her on social media.
This sort of mobbing is toxic behavior, and it’s the sort of BS that goes on in toxic churches and workplaces.
In other words, encouraging such conduct among students is a remarkably bad idea and not at all Christian. Indeed, when people engage in shunning, as here, all we can say is, “No big loss….ain’t it great when the trash takes itself out?”
As for anyone considering sending a student to Tennessee Christian Preparatory School, don’t say we didn’t warn you. The place is toxic.
Tolerance and inclusion
Relatedly, we also object to the school’s conduct because it is unhelpful to students as they prepare for their future.
How so?
The answer is simple. No matter what one’s view on same-sex marriage or LGBTQ+ rights, college and the workplace will involve living and working successfully with people different from us. Doing so requires treating others with respect.
Moreover, most parents don’t want their kids to grow up to be haters. Yes, we get that Tennessee is very conservative, but being conservative and hating others is not the same. Nor does one require the other.
Indeed, we have many conservative friends who disagree with our views on marriage equality and inclusion. But it was not that long ago that Americans could agree to disagree and still treat each other with respect.
And, as we have said many times, one of the great mistakes of the Episcopal Church is the notion that only liberals can be members in good standing. True, there’s no official policy that says that, but too often, Episcopalians treat those with differing views as unwelcome, troublemakers, or as somehow not being Christian.
The same goes for truthtellers, despite the Christian imperative to bring darkness to the light.
So, in a nutshell, Tennessee Christian has bollixed this situation on every front and brought discredit on the school and its alums. Indeed, the situation very much reminds us of Grace Christian Academy in Tennessee, which has repeatedly used non-disclosure agreements obtained via duress to cover up abuse, including sexual, at the school.
We note, too, that the school has violated its written policies for handling social media violations (if, in fact, that’s what this situation is) in this matter. That constitutes a breach of contract and is legally/ethically indefensible. In other words, the school is likely to get its ass handed to it in court, and we are planning to enjoy every minute of it.
Looking forward
Sources close to the matter tell Anglican Watch that the lawsuit will be served on the school tomorrow, Tuesday. Hopefully, the school will review the actual allegations in the lawsuit rather than speculate and claim that they are false, as it has done so far.
Any fair assessment of the school’s conduct would clearly show that its behavior in this situation has been abysmal and unhelpful.
We are also confident that multiple alums will come forward with similar allegations of bullying and abuse by the school. Just know that we welcome additional tips and will gladly shine the light on other abuse at the school.
We also caution the school against trying to obtain a non-disclosure in this matter. Unless requested by the victim and voidable at will by them, such agreements are inherently abusive and unethical. If we get wind of any such effort, we will shout it from the rooftops.
Don’t try it. Instead, we urge the school to admit its mistake, apologize sincerely, and fix this mess. Anything else is unacceptable.
As to Morgan and her girlfriend, Sophie, and their parents, we wish all of them much love and happiness, both now and in the future.
It is unfortunate that they are trying to yank her degree that she earned.
Similarly, Bishop Lucinda Ashby retaliated those who speak up to the vestry, diocesan board of trustees, and standing committee about abuse in parishes and in the Diocese of El Camino Real