As far as the auditors were concerned, there were no red flags-they never sounded an alarm. No formal evidence has been cited against him. Here in the northwest, Gale Crosby has established a well-earned reputation as a competent and compassionate friend of Adventist education.

In a letter to Adventist Today, Alden Thompson, retired professor of biblical studies at Walla Walla University, responded to the AT story: “I don't know a more godly, humble person that has had that leadership role.” All of us that know Gale, we're shaking our heads going, ‘this is not Gale, this is slander,’” states Jenny Neil, 1st/2nd-grade teacher and principal at Three Sisters Adventist Christian School. And then the article that came out in Adventist Today. I think you could have told me that the Pope had become Adventist and I would not have been more stunned.” “It kind of hit all of us principals like a ton of bricks. He's been the best guy to work under in my experience of 40 years.” Hardy mentions that his duties include teaching 9th and 10th grades, administration, and janitorial work for the school.

I have only good things to say about Gale. “I’ve been teaching for 40 years, the last nine under Gale Crosby.

“I feel like I can't trust the administration,” states Peter Hardy, principal of Mid-Columbia Adventist Christian School in Hood River, Oregon. But educators interviewed for this story expressed frustration with how the situation was handled. In public comments, Oregon Conference President Dan Linrud has emphasized “trust” and said that Crosby was fired to protect educators. Interviews with 15 conference administrators, educators, and constituents now reveal a central issue in Crosby’s termination as not the misuse of money but the use of outside funds that effectively changed the income of most leaders in the Education Department Citing an anonymous source, the story alleged that Crosby “took a large sum of money donated to the Education Department and used it for personal purposes.” On March 31, Adventist Today published a story about the situation. Uncharacteristically for corporations and Adventist institutions, the official statement included a clause of cause: “Due to significant concerns regarding Gale Crosby’s fiduciary responsibilities.”

This probably would not have been a story. Instead of just not recommending him to the constituents in this year’s September session, they fired him during the school year. The conference committee had met with Gale Crosby about conflict of interest and remuneration questions the previous February and in October 2021. That ended on March 17, 2022, when the Oregon Conference Executive Committee voted to end Gale Crosby’s employment, effective immediately, and “move in a different direction.” Crosby was just a few months from turning 65. He was principal of several academies, moved to conference administration as associate superintendent, and then for the last nine years, Crosby has served as vice president for education. Gale Crosby is a Seventh-day Adventist educator with 41-years of denominational experience, 32-years of which he’s spent working for the Oregon Conference.

Ispectrum magazine citing