The main gate of Olivet University's 1,000-acre campus in Anza,
The main gate of Olivet University's 1,000-acre campus in Anza, California — one of the largest Christian university campuses in the state. Olivet University

NEW YORK, New York — Olivet University has received a vote of good standing from the Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE), affirming that the California Christian institution meets recognized academic and institutional standards. For the university, it is a significant milestone — and the starting point for what its leadership describes as a broader effort to restore what was lost during years of unfair pressure.

"Our students and faculty never wavered," said university President Dr. Jonathan Park. "They knew the truth, and now the record reflects it. We are deeply grateful — and we are just getting started."

A Campaign That Didn't Hold Up

The road to this point was not straightforward. Starting in 2022, Olivet became the subject of more than 20 articles in Newsweek alleging human trafficking, labor exploitation, and other serious misconduct. The university vehemently denies these allegations and has consistently maintained that those articles were not the product of independent journalism, but of a deliberate campaign orchestrated by Newsweek CEO Dev Pragad as leverage in a dispute over the publication's ownership.

According to verified text messages reviewed by reporters at the time, Pragad — a former member of World Olivet Assembly, the evangelical denomination affiliated with the university — threatened in March 2022 to go to the media with a "nuclear bomb" about Olivet, with phony human trafficking allegations, if shareholders connected to the university did not hand him control of Newsweek. Weeks later, the articles began.

The civil case, which had been dismissed once at the state court and then stayed at the request of the plaintiffs, has lost nearly all of its momentum and carries little weight today, after federal investigators declined to charge Olivet or anyone affiliated with it. Attention has since shifted to a different question altogether: who is financing the legal fees of the four former students behind the suit?

An early rendering of Olivet University's 1,000-acre Anza, California campus.
An early rendering of Olivet University's 1,000-acre Anza, California campus. The university's general plan amendment application received unanimous approval from Riverside County's General Plan Advisory Committee, Planning Commission, and Board of Supervisors. Olivet University

Looking Forward: Restoring What Was Lost

With ABHE good standing secured, Olivet is now focused on what comes next. The university has made clear its intention to challenge regulatory decisions it considers unjust — rulings it argues would never have come about were it not for the false allegations that drove negative coverage of the school.

The university is pursuing its defamation lawsuits against Newsweek staff in federal courts. Olivet's defamation case against Newsweek reporter Alex Rouhandeh is moving forward in federal court in Florida. In a July 2025 ruling, Judge Steven Merryday declined to dismiss the case, finding that Rouhandeh had falsely claimed Olivet "pleaded guilty to money laundering." Newsweek has not publicly responded to the allegations.

A University Still Standing

Through all of it, Olivet has kept going. The university's Anza campus spans more than 900 acres in Riverside County — one of the largest of any Christian university in California — and recently received unanimous zoning approval from county authorities for future expansion. It also operates campuses in San Francisco, Washington D.C., St. Louis, Nashville, and Orlando.

Dr. Park says the university is approaching this moment with gratitude rather than bitterness. "What was done to this institution and to our students was unjust," he said. "But we are still here, and from this point, the sky is the limit."

Topics Olivet University