An internal email.

[Mother Jones]( MoJo Reader, "Stop whatever you're doing and read this week's Big Feature. It's captivating and unsettling, and it's sure to make your blood boil…" That line got my attention a few weeks ago, when MoJo editorial director Amanda Silverman started an internal staffwide email with it, letting everyone know about a major investigation we had just published. And the story delivered: Nearly a year in the making, Becca Andrews had exposed alleged sexual assault and misconduct at a prestigious Christian college in Chicago. "[They Went to Bible College to Deepen Their Faith. Then They Were Assaulted—and Blamed for It](" is worth reading if you haven't already, and the story behind it is worth sharing as I ask you to [support our team's unique journalism during our short three-week fall fundraising push](. For years, Becca has been reporting on religion, gender, sexual assault, and reproductive rights. She's done amazing investigative work from the South, where she grew up and recently moved back to, and on the evangelical church, a community she was raised in. Her background has allowed her to connect deeply with sources other outlets often ignore and to bring a unique perspective to a national newsroom that's going after stories no one else is covering. Her reporting and writing are phenomenal and, what's more, have an impact. Case in point: Her deep dives into a [Tennessee lawmaker]( accused of sexual assault, on [#ChurchToo](, and on [purity culture]( laid the groundwork for the big investigation into Moody. After sources familiar with her reporting reached out, Becca spent almost a year digging into how Moody created an environment that has enabled abuse, shamed survivors, and ignored accountability. Here's more from Amanda, who was Becca's point editor and can tell you why reporting like this matters better than I ever could: "Becca spent the past, oh I don't know, 100 or so months investigating allegations of sexual assault and misconduct at Moody Bible Institute, the 'Harvard of Christian schools,' as one former student put it. She speaks with students who hoped they'd find their soulmates among their spiritual peers, but instead found abuse and shame. Yet this story is even more complicated—and Becca works to untangle the complex ways in which purity culture and the evangelical belief in complementarianism have enabled an environment of abuse, as well as an administration ready to sweep bad behavior under the rug. (The dean of students asked one woman, 'What did you do to deserve to be hit?') Of course, Title IX should provide some measure of accountability, but, as Becca writes, this is a far from a perfect system—even less so when the institution in question is a religious one." As Becca wrote when sharing her investigation with MoJo newsletter readers, it's "a nuanced examination of patriarchy, purity culture, systemic abuse, and, more than anything else, individual strength." The story really spoke to me, and I hope you'll [read Becca's powerful narrative]( if you haven't yet. [I also hope you'll consider supporting reporting like Becca's with a donation during our fall fundraising drive if you can](. Being funded primarily by readers lets our reporters build up expertise and sources on beats that most newsrooms don't cover like we do. It lets reporters like Becca dig deep and invest the time and effort needed for an investigation of this scale. It lets us pursue stories that need to be told in the first place, even if doing so might rack up legal bills. And it lets us have a team, from fact-checkers to layers of editors and artwork, make it as impactful as it can be. Amanda name-checked eight other staffers in her email, and there were certainly more. It's a team effort. And you're part of that team: Becca's story and the story of how we got it, and got it right, is such a great example of why our work, and our community of readers who make it all possible, matters so much right now. [Please pitch in to support our team's great reporting with a donation today](. Our fall fundraising push is off to a slower start than we hoped and that's fairly concerning because we're trying a different approach and seeing if we can raise $250,000 during a shorter than normal three-week window. There's not a lot of time to pick up the pace, and as [we wrote]( over the summer, some people no longer think news is important now that Donald Trump is no longer president. But I know you're not one of those folks, and we're hoping we can rally support from folks who are really paying attention—you who read these emails—over these next few weeks because you know why our work matters more than most. And for 45 years now, that's how Mother Jones has been able to do so much important, essential work like Becca's. It's that simple. [If you can right now, please support our team's incredible journalism today](: We've only raised $15,000 in the first five days, and we're going to need to pick up the pace big time to raise the money it takes to pay for our journalism in these next two weeks. Thanks for reading, and for everything you do to make Mother Jones what it is. Brian Hiatt Online Membership Mother Jones [Donate]( P.S. If you recently made a donation, thank you! And please accept our apologies for sending you this reminder—our systems take a little while to catch up. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. 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