Caylin Carter was one of about two dozen people who participated in the Stand-In for Accountability demonstration at Truett McConnell University on Friday. They rallied in support of alumnus Hayle Swinson, whose sexual assault allegations against former TMU Vice President of Academic Services Bradley Reynolds have rocked the school in recent days. Carter said she was a friend and fellow soccer player with Swinson during the time she was allegedly being groomed and abused by Reynolds.
“Reynolds was always very touchy with us,” she said. “And we were practically ordered by
Coach (David) McDowell
to interact with him.”
According to Carter, Reynolds went on long trips on road games out of town, and stayed in the same hotel with the team.
Carter, now 29, said that she was in one of the theology classes in which Reynolds demanded that students set down their past traumatic experiences in writing and then discuss them with him behind closed doors.
“I didn’t want to do it,” Carter said, “so I lied; I made up a traumatic experience and wrote that down.” The whole experience challenged her faith, Carter said, “and I’m back in therapy because of it.”
Carter said the coach and Reynolds insisted on mandatory meetings with Reynolds on campus and social events at his home. “We were expected to swim in his pool, and he and Coach would stand outside and watch us, while the wives were inside cooking. It always made me feel very uncomfortable.”
Carter said she didn’t want to go to any of those events, but felt that she was forced to, and it was known that any player who didn’t comply would be assigned extra workouts, lose playing time, and endure other penalties.
“Nothing was ever overt,” she said, “but we had to go along.”
Carter, now a Christian counselor living in McDonough, Georgia, was dating her high school boyfriend, now her husband, throughout her time on the TMU campus. McDowell demanded to meet her boyfriend to see if he met with the coach’s approval.
Carter said she told him, “I have my dad for that.” “He didn’t like that,” she added, noting that McDowell told the girls to call
him
“Daddy” and referred to himself that way.
Carter said that, because she resisted the soccer coach’s authority, “I don’t think he liked me.” During her senior year, as she prepared for practice one day, McDowell kicked a soccer ball at her head with great force, causing her to lose consciousness and suffer a concussion. “When I woke up, I didn’t know where I was,” she said.
The other players witnessed what happened, and were told to lie about it, and say it happened by accident during practice. The injury ended her senior year season on the team, Carter said.
“The President and everybody knew about it, but I got no support,” she added.
Carter made a point of noting that several faculty members and staff, male and female, did try to protect the soccer team players from their coach and from Reynolds, but as noted previously in Now Habersham, several staff people were dismissed from their jobs, allegedly for opposing Reynolds’ authority and supporting Swinson and other victimized students.
Coach McDowell, who is still listed on the TMU website as the soccer coach, had not returned a phone call or email at press time Friday.
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