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Bob Jones University (BJU) is the largest private liberal arts university in South Carolina. It is a Christian university in Greenville, South Carolina, and was founded in 1927 by Bob Jones, Sr., an evangelist and revival-preacher.
The current president of the university is Bob Jones III, grandson of the founder. It sits on a 225 acre (0.9 km²) campus, has a staff of 1,800 and a student body of 4,200, and offers degrees in 126 majors, plus additional schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. It should be noted that the univeristy does not have accreditation.
Its mission statement is "Within the cultural and academic soil of liberal arts education, Bob Jones University exists to grow Christlike character that is Scripturally disciplined; others-serving; God-loving; Christ-proclaiming; and focused above."
History
BJU was founded in 1927 by evangelist Bob Jones, Sr., in College Point, Florida. Jones was the son of an Alabama sharecropper. His stated purpose was to create a school where Christian students could receive a high-quality education in a strongly traditional Christian environment.
The school moved to Cleveland, Tennessee in 1933, and to its present campus in Greenville, South Carolina in 1947.
Art Gallery
Bob Jones, Jr., son of the founder, had an interest in art depicting scenes from the Bible, especially those which had a highly illustrative nature rather than those relying on symbols. He began collecting after World War II, and concentrated on Italian Baroque painters. This style was out of favor in the mid-20th century and the works were relatively inexpensive, and Jones built up an important collection. He donated his paintings to a museum at the University. The BJU Museum & Gallery (http://www.bjumg.org) now is considered the largest collection of religious art in the Western Hemisphere.
Creed
Students at BJU recite the University Creed at chapel services each day. They are also required to sign it annually as a statement of faith, as a condition of enrollment.
- I believe in the inspiration of the Bible (both the Old and the New Testaments); the creation of man by the direct act of God; the incarnation and virgin birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ; His identification as the Son of God; His vicarious atonement for the sins of mankind by the shedding of His blood on the cross; the resurrection of His body from the tomb; His power to save men from sin; the new birth through the regeneration by the Holy Spirit; and the gift of eternal life by the grace of God.
Biology
The BJU biology department proudly proclaims its support for creationism. Its Dept. of Biology website states:
- Although Bob Jones University is primarily a teaching institution, the members of the science faculty have a long tradition of speaking, writing, and doing research related to defending the Bible's account of creation.
Controversy
Bob Jones University adopted a policy against interracial dating in the 1950s after the parents of an female Asian student threatened legal action after learning that their daughter was dating a white student. Bob Jones University lost its Internal Revenue Service tax exemption in 1980 because of this policy. The school appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the school met the criteria for tax-exempt status on several counts. U.S. President Ronald Reagan supported the school's tax exempt status, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1983 in favour of the IRS (see Bob Jones University v. United States, 461 U.S. 574). In 2000, the policy was dropped in its entirety (after some experimentation with a policy of parental consent for interracial dating) shortly after the State of South Carolina formally legalized interracial marriage.
Extracurriculars
The University has an intramural sports program in many different fields including soccer, basketball, softball, track, volleyball, tennis, badminton, and table tennis. The highlight of the sports season is the Turkey Bowl, where the top two societies (the University's version of fraternities and sororities) compete in a soccer match usually during Thanksgiving.
The University also competes in intercollegiate debate in the National Educational Debate Association.
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