Was a School Anti-Bullying Program a Trojan Horse for Christian Conversion?

"Sometimes you just can't kick down [the door]," Eryck "Boomer" Bennett told a congregation last June. "Sometimes you got to go in cloak and dagger." 

Bennett wasn't talking about a covert military operation. He was describing his strategy for bringing Christianity into the public schools of Vallejo, California – schools that were paying him to deliver secular anti-bullying assemblies at the time. 

That revelation has now cost him his contract and his credibility with the district that trusted him.

A $600,000 Community Partnership Gone Awry

Here’s what happened. The Vallejo City Unified School District had signed grant-funded agreements worth more than $600,000 with a group called “JF University/Luv Our Youth” – an organization introduced to administrators as a program run by formerly incarcerated people dedicated to helping others "make better choices for themselves and their families." 

Part of that deal included $3,200 for Bennett to lead an anti-bullying assembly at Wardlaw Elementary School. On paper, it looked like a straightforward community partnership.

Behind the scenes, it was something else. At Calvary Chapel San Jose, Bennett laid out a strategy he described as "Champion Academy." According to reports, here’s what he said:

I teach… it’s called Champion Academy, and our slogan is “We turn students into champions.” Now on the front end, that sounds like, “Yeah!”… but the school district don’t know, we turn students into champions for Christ. That’s the end goal, is to turn every student into a champion for Christ.

How we do that?… We start a club on the school campus... and then that club translate to a OCA which we call “off-campus activity.” That off-campus activity is where we give them Christ and Christ crucified. That’s where discipleship is started. That’s where, like, I can really get into the nuts and bolts of what Jesus did into my life. And then we get them saved and then we send them back on school campuses to turn their campus for Christ and build more champions for the Kingdom of God…

Like any good marketing strategy, there were layers to it. The anti-bullying assembly would funnel students into an after-school event, and that's where the Christian message would come out in full.

Bennett also posted on social media about using pizza to “break bread” with students and help them open up to his message.

A Name With Two Meanings

The deception ran deeper than tactics. Apparently, the district believed "JF University" stood for "Just Finished University," a name honoring the group's formerly incarcerated founders. 

But according to reports, the letters actually stand for "Jesus Followr University" – the misspelling intentional – and the organization has been registered as a religious ministry since 2019. Its stated mission is to "advance biblical thought, family values, and a love for Jesus Christ." 

School District Cuts Ties

When administrators learned of the sermons and the intent behind them, they moved quickly to sever ties. 

"Our public schools are, and always will be, inclusive and welcoming spaces for students of all backgrounds, faiths, and beliefs," said the district superintendent. "We will not allow anyone to misuse access to our campuses or undermine the trust we place in our partners." 

Bennett lost access to every campus, student, and staff member in the district.

A Familiar Debate – With a New Edge

The case lands in the middle of an ongoing national debate about faith and public education. Across the country, the question of whether – and how – religion belongs in schools has produced a string of flashpoints: 

• Faith leaders in Florida pushed back against a school chaplain bill they said opened the door to exactly this kind of covert proselytizing
• An Arizona district faced backlash after striking a deal with the LDS Church to build a seminary on school property
• A Florida school that allowed a Christian church to advertise on campus found itself in a legal bind when a local Satanist requested equal treatment. 

Each of these cases turns on the same underlying tension: in a country committed to the separation of church and state, what role – if any – should religious organizations play in public schools?

That question has a legal answer, even if the edges are blurry. The courts have been consistent: public schools cannot sponsor or facilitate religious instruction. Where Bennett's situation differs from more ambiguous cases is the paper trail. He documented his own intentions, in his own words, before a church congregation.

Still, the story raises interesting questions. Can faith-based organizations operate in public schools in, well, good faith? Is it possible to offer genuine secular services while keeping religious identity separate? Or does the presence of religious conviction always carry the risk of the line being crossed?

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