LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Great Lakes Christian College (GLCC) and President Dr. Frank Weller are coming under fire after people learned he knowingly hired a convicted sex offender who worked at the college for several years.

The timeline.

Randal Scott Willett, 64, worked at the school as IT director from 2022 until 2025. In 1992 at the age of 31, the former GLCC alum was convicted in Clinton County of three counts of third degree criminal sexual conduct with a child between the ages of 13-15. A judge sentenced Willett to three, concurrent seven-to-15 year sentences, per an Oct. 8, 1992 Lansing State Journal article.

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Willett remains on Michigan’s sex offender registry list.

Upon learning of Willett’s role at the school in March, the online Facebook group “Great Lakes Christian College Safety” called for Weller’s resignation. In communication with Michigan News Source, the group’s administrators said they have reached out multiple times to Dr. Weller. After an initial email to Dr. Weller, they said communication from him via email stopped after he suggested face-to-face meetings to clear things up.

“Despite repeated efforts to continue the conversation in writing, alumni were only offered in-person meetings, which were declined due to the need for clear documentation and to respect the alumnus’ personal boundaries,” the group told Michigan News Source in a message. “As of April [21], 2025, the college president and GLCC administration have yet to answer our original questions.”

Those questions included clarification regarding current hiring policies and whether parents of dual-enrolled minors had been informed of Willett’s employment. (Dual-enrolled minors are high school students who take college courses.) In addition, the group pressed about what steps are being taken to ensure students’ online and personal safety.

GLCC responds.

Michigan News Source went to track down those answers. GLCC President Dr. Weller, who has served as the school’s leader since 2022 and hired Wilett, granted Michigan News Source an interview in his office and confirmed that he prefers to “have a conversation” as opposed to a “social media fight.”

Weller said the group has expressed “fair points,” but he has not released a public statement regarding Willet’s employment or subsequent resignation. Dr. Weller said the issue is “less about student safety [and] less about policy and procedures. It’s become more about me being accused of silence and not responding,” he said.

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Weller said Willett resigned on April 8, 2025, and Weller informed the 219-member student body the next day.

In a letter dated four days before Willett’s resignation, Dr. Weller addressed concerns with Willett’s employment at GLCC with a member of the Facebook group. “We [a GLCC team] have looked at the precise details of the criminal charge, the age at the time of the offense, the time that has passed since, and the absence of any other behavior or recidivism in the decades after. We have also considered the nature of the individual’s job with GLCC, the access he has to students, and their information.”

These same sentiments were expressed by Dr. Weller during his interview with Michigan News Source.

The letter continues and defends the decision to hire Willett. “We are confident the individual poses no threat to the safety of any student. He has demonstrated that, apart from making a mistake decades ago, he is an upstanding individual who deserves a second chance. We feel that allowing him to work with us is consistent with our Christian values of forgiveness and redemption.”

Doing things differently.

Dr. Weller admits he would “do things differently now” than he did when he hired Willett, referring to hiring him with knowledge about his criminal background. “I’ve learned about the psychology of safety,” he said. That comment referenced the triggering effect a sex offender can have around survivors of sexual abuse. Dr. Weller added, “No student ever expressed any concern while Randy was here, and we are implementing a policy so it never happens again.”

A meeting on April 25, 2025 with the GLCC trustees is scheduled to discuss and implement those new policies.

Moving forward with safeguards.

Dr. Weller sent the school’s student safety measures, dated April 2, 2025, in an email to Michigan News Source. Under “employment practices” it states, “all prospective employees undergo a criminal background check before a decision is made about their employment.”

It goes on to say “decisions regarding employment are considered on an individual basis. All long-term employees are periodically background checked to ensure they have not committed any new offense.”

Student safety vs. image management.

However, despite the looming safeguards, some feel the damage has already been done. The Facebook group wrote, “We care deeply about GLCC and its mission, but student safety and institutional integrity should never be treated as secondary to image management.” The group added, “We hope this situation leads to meaningful change in hiring practices, internal communication, and the way concerns from the community are handled moving forward.”