July 11, 2018

Dear friends in the writing community,

I am grateful for Taylor University and the opportunity it gave me to teach writing for 15 years to some of the most amazing and talented students. The Taylor Professional Writers Program is simply the best, and it was indeed an honor to serve.

I am also grateful for Dr. Dennis E. Hensley, who not only gave the me privilege to teach, but opened up so many doors in publishing and academia for me and hundreds of others. He was simply the best writing teacher and mentor.

Twitter and Facebook are on fire reacting to news that “Dr. Dennis Hensely is no longer employed by Taylor University” due to a preponderance of evidence from multiple sources over a 30-year period of “serious and substantial allegations of sexual misconduct.”

This is true and factual. I have personally talked with administrators, and I believe they carried out a very difficult task comprehensively and compassionately both for Dr. Hensley and his accusers.

Because of this:

• Dr. Hensley’s academic career is over.

• Dr. Hensley’s teaching career is over. (He was uninvited to virtually all his 2018 engagements.)

• Dr. Hensley’s online teaching is over. (He has also been removed from his online teaching duties with writers’ groups.)

• Dr. Hensley’s publishing career is over. (His books are being removed from publishers’ websites.)

Unfortunately, there are some accusers who are not content with these consequences but want the proposed punishment in The Merchant of Venice—a “pound of flesh.” I believe justice has been served, but I’m afraid what some women really want is blood. (Thus the plot twist in Shakespeare’s famous play.) This Facebook and Twitter campaign is not biblical, and so I am speaking out against it and want to distance myself from it.

This is the time for confession and repentance on Dr. Hensley’s part, and forgiveness and healing for his victims.

James N. Watkins

P.S. This will be my final statement on this heartbreaking and disappointing incident, and I will not be responding to inquiries except to provide this statement. Thanks