Cornerstone University is literally rewriting history

The purge at Cornerstone University appears to be very thorough. The University is eliminating references to its fired professors, the so-called “contrarians.” Not familiar with this ongoing story? Get up to speed here.

An article on the Cornerstone website about English language workshops for Detroit Tigers players, led by Dr. Michael Pasquale and Dr. Michael Stevens in 2018, has been rewritten to remove all reference to Stevens, who was fired from his position as Professor of English last month after 27 years of service to the institution.The article still references plural “professors” and “educators,” but only Dr. Pasquale is now named. A photo has also been cropped to eliminate Stevens’ image. Pasquale was demoted from his position as Dean of the School of Ministry, Media, and the Arts at the time of the terminations, but remains employed as professor of Linguistics.

Here is original article:

Dr. Michael Pasquale, professor of linguistics, and Dr. Michael Stevens, professor of English, traveled to Lakeland, Fla., during spring training to teach professional development workshops for English as a Second Language (ESL) educators employed by the Detroit Tigers. This year’s trip marks the third consecutive year that the Humanities Division professors have consulted with the historic baseball organization. Cornerstone University alumni Monica Pasquale (M.A. ’08) and Joanna Bentley (M.A. ’10) will be teaching minor league ballplayers this season and also attended the seminars.

“To be able to bring my experience and passion into helping the team I grew up supporting is an unexpected blessing,” Pasquale said. “I always dreamt of playing professional baseball, but I didn’t have the skill set. It is exciting that my expertise in English could make a small influence.”

The Detroit Tigers organization includes ESL teachers at each of their minor league affiliate levels. The instructors provide support to international players in the minor leagues through personalized English language instruction.

The connection between Cornerstone and the Detroit Tigers began five years ago when Sharon Lockwood, coordinator of international player programs for the Detroit Tigers, attended the university’s ESL Conference. She later contacted Pasquale with the opportunity to participate in the annual training workshop for ESL instructors held during spring training.

“This opportunity [to teach ESL to international baseball players] allows us to help international players with something they need to thrive and to feel more connected in their local communities,” Pasquale said. “It gives us a chance to both provide encouragement through the season and challenge them to pursue being men of character.”

While in Florida, Pasquale presented a preview of his forthcoming ESL curriculum program to workshop attendees. A pilot of the curriculum is planned for the upcoming season.

As the 2017-18 academic year concludes, Pasquale and Stevens look forward to combining their interests in language pedagogy and baseball closer to home. The team (along with Monica Pasquale) plans to lead ESL courses for the class A West Michigan Whitecaps this summer. CU alum Joanna Bentley will be teaching ESL courses for the class AAA Toledo Mud Hens.

Here is new article (accessed on July 15, 2024):

Dr. Michael Pasquale, professor of linguistics, traveled to Lakeland, Fla., during spring training to teach professional development workshops for English as a Second Language (ESL) educators employed by the Detroit Tigers. This year’s trip marks the third consecutive year that the Humanities Division professors have consulted with the historic baseball organization. Cornerstone University alumni Monica Pasquale (M.A. ’08) and Joanna Bentley (M.A. ’10) will be teaching minor league ballplayers this season and also attended the seminars.

“To be able to bring my experience and passion into helping the team I grew up supporting is an unexpected blessing,” Pasquale said. “I always dreamt of playing professional baseball, but I didn’t have the skill set. It is exciting that my expertise in English could make a small influence.”

The Detroit Tigers organization includes ESL teachers at each of their minor league affiliate levels. The instructors provide support to international players in the minor leagues through personalized English language instruction.

The connection between Cornerstone and the Detroit Tigers began five years ago when Sharon Lockwood, coordinator of international player programs for the Detroit Tigers, attended the university’s ESL Conference. She later contacted Pasquale with the opportunity to participate in the annual training workshop for ESL instructors held during spring training.

“This opportunity [to teach ESL to international baseball players] allows us to help international players with something they need to thrive and to feel more connected in their local communities,” Pasquale said. “It gives us a chance to both provide encouragement through the season and challenge them to pursue being men of character.”

While in Florida, Pasquale presented a preview of his forthcoming ESL curriculum program to workshop attendees. A pilot of the curriculum is planned for the upcoming season.

As the 2017-18 academic year concludes, Pasquale looks forward to combining his interests in language pedagogy and baseball closer to home. The team (along with Monica Pasquale) plans to lead ESL courses for the class A West Michigan Whitecaps this summer. CU alum Joanna Bentley will be teaching ESL courses for the class AAA Toledo Mud Hens.

Cornerstone is trying to erase Stevens from history.

But it gets worse. Here is the picture that accompanied the original piece:

Stevens is in the picture. He is on the right, wearing a blue shirt and baseball cap.

Here is the picture that accompanies the newly edited article:

Stevens has been cut out of the photo.

And then there is this:

Here is the text of an October 2021 article about President Moreno-Riaño’s inauguration ceremony:

Here is the edited text:

What happened to Dr. Jason Stevens?

A change has also been made to an October 2023 article about a concert held to dedicate a restored Steinway piano. The event featured now terminated professor Desmond Ikegwuonu, who at that time was Director of Worship Arts and Piano Studies and Associate Professor of Music. Dr. Ikegwuonu performed a premiere of his own composition at the event. Although the article retains a reference to Ikegwuonu (he was perhaps too prominent a participant in the event to delete altogether), the article has been rewritten to remove any mention of his connection with Cornerstone.

Here is the original text:

Here is the edited version of the article:

Notice the caption here:

Ikegwuonu’s role at the University has also been expunged from an article about the first chapel of the 2023 Fall semester.

Here is a taste of the original article:

On Aug. 30, Dr. Gerson Moreno-Riaño welcomed students, faculty, and staff to the 2023-24 academic year at Cornerstone University and unveiled a new theme for fall chapel messages: Christ Our Greatest Friend. Based on John 15:13-14, the theme build’s upon last year’s exploration of Christ the Greatest Influencer.

During the fall semester’s inaugural chapel gathering, the Cornerstone learning community and guests filled Christ Chapel to capacity as the incoming class of 2027 joined returning students for inspirational worship led by Dr. Desmond Ikegwuonu, associate professor of music and director of worship arts, and student musicians. Following the worship set and a corporate prayer offered by Tate Radaz, the newly appointed director of chapel ministries and spiritual formation, President Moreno-Riaño spoke about the importance of friendships for humans who are created in the image of God as relational beings and highlighted unparalleled examples of true friendship from the life of Jesus Christ.

Here is the current article on the website. It keeps Ikegwuonu’s name, but deletes his affiliation with Cornerstone University.

On Aug. 30, Dr. Gerson Moreno-Riaño welcomed students, faculty, and staff to the 2023-24 academic year at Cornerstone University and unveiled a new theme for fall chapel messages: Christ Our Greatest Friend. Based on John 15:13-14, the theme build’s upon last year’s exploration of Christ the Greatest Influencer.

During the fall semester’s inaugural chapel gathering, the Cornerstone learning community and guests filled Christ Chapel to capacity as the incoming class of 2027 joined returning students for inspirational worship led by Dr. Desmond Ikegwuonu and student musicians. Following the worship set and a corporate prayer offered by Tate Radaz, the newly appointed director of chapel ministries and spiritual formation, President Moreno-Riaño spoke about the importance of friendships for humans who are created in the image of God as relational beings and highlighted unparalleled examples of true friendship from the life of Jesus Christ.

Ironically, given what appears to be a methodological attempt at erasing any record that these terminated professors worked at Cornerstone, the institution has failed to delete a large picture of former history professor Dr. Martin Spence which is featured on a page recruiting for the History Minor. Spence was fired after he was told there was no longer any history programs at Cornerstone, yet his image is used here to recruit for one! Let’s give Cornerstone the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they haven’t got around to it yet.