Saturday, April 02, 2005
Could You Get Accepted To Bob Jones University, And What Would You Do With Yourself If You Did???
I couldn’t. At least, the odds would be against me if I was ever foolish enough to apply. But then again, why would I want to go to school at Bob Jones University? Why, indeed.
When I was standing in line just before the start of the commencement ceremony to receive my Bachelor of Arts degree from Metropolitan State University, the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences joked to me that it was fitting that we moved the tassels on our caps from the right side to the left at the completion of the graduation exercises. Moving the tassel merely symbolizes the completion of one’s education, or a part of it. Yet, the Dean was referring to the ideology of right and left, and how it was appropriate that we moved the tassel to the left given what he knew about my personal politics. I jokingly asked him in turn what he thought they did for commencement at Bob Jones University. “Oh,” he said with a wink, “they probably just keep the tassel on the right and shake it a little, if they move it at all.” Even though I was joking, I think the Dean may have been serious.
Browsing through their website, I found that BJU is a place of strict limitations and strange, surreal contrasts. Bob Jones is arguably the most conservative university in the United States. It received some minor publicity in recent years because it was the only remaining university that forbade inter-racial dating among it’s students. President Bush was also criticized for making a campaign visit to BJU, in light of its dating policy. It is a policy that Bob stubbornly adhered to right into the millennium, even though it disallowed them from ever receiving supplemental federal funding after a 1983 court decision that revoked their tax exempt status.
The policy of discrimination extends far beyond the realm of race relations at Bob Jones. Interestingly, Bob has what it calls a “nondiscriminatory policy” but this only extends to minorities of “race, color, national or ethnic origin” not minorities adhering to different “creeds” or to sexual minorities. The “nondiscrimination” is further revealed in a nuanced but a careful reading of the online student application. The online student application asks for three references, but one has to come from a pastor. The application also asks detailed questions about church attendance, the potential students’ marital status and the potential students’ parents’ marital status (by asking for mother’s and father’s last names separately). Presumably, potential students who are divorced or whose parents are divorced are denied admission. Added to that list might be students who answer the further nosy questions about drug and alcohol use. After all, god never had a problem with punishing the sons for the “sins” of their fathers, so why should Bob Jones University?
Interestingly, aside from the intensive purity test there are not very many questions on the application that seem designed to asses the intellectual capabilities of potential students. From what I can tell, BJU does not require anything beyond GED or some other type of highschool graduate equivalency. In shifting focus from what Bob expects of students to what Bob offers, one comes back to the brick wall of what Bob expects.
Bob offers its students the intellectual rigors of a Creationist Biology department of “scientists” whose sole pursuit is putting a scientific veneer on attempts to validate biblical propaganda. They use big words, wear white coats and use the title “Dr.” the way I use the bathroom—freely and without guilt.
Bob also offers students the opportunity to thrive in a spiritual environment where strict dress codes are enforced at all times. Men must wear ties, shave every day, cannot wear baggy pants, t-shirts or any other worldly clothes item. Women must dress like your great grandmother did, and the sexist rules at Bob even explicitly insist that women’s hairstyles must be “feminine” and not cut too short. Given the extreme lengths that Bob goes to prevent any possibility of male-female interaction (let alone fornication: men and women on “dates” at Bob are chaperoned at all times, meaning no hand holding allowed, among other things) one would think that the university would have incentive to encourage women to look less feminine. Ah, but given the fact that same sex interaction is the perfect ideal at Bob, I can see how that might present too much temptation for even the straightest sex starved gentleman or lady.
For those Straight Edge folks out there who feel they could survive four years of no sex, no drugs, and no booze at a university they should realize that rock n’ roll and un-made beds are added to the list of prohibitions at Bob. It only takes three music infractions to get expelled from Bob, and just about every type of music qualifies including rock, jazz, new age, and yes even Christian Contemporary! But that’s not all. Like a military academy, Residence Advisors actually inspect beds daily to make sure they are made. An un-made bed can result in more infractions. More than half a dozen different kinds of mandatory prayer group sessions must be attended as well. And work? Forget about it unless you have a chaperone with you at all times, and unless you can find a job that does not serve alcohol to patrons. Between making sure your tie is perfect, finding an ideologically pure job, mandatory bed making and prayer meetings and “touch free” dates, where does one even find the time to attend class?
If you do find the time, you’ll have a wonderful array of majors to choose from. Four different degrees in “bible,” five separate degrees in Christian ministry, four degrees in—I’m not kidding—missionary aviation, but for the extreme student, bent on thrill seeking there is always a rebellious degree in…piano pedagogy. Sure, who said music was banned? Just don’t bring your Jerry Lee Lewis sheet music to class!
Bob it seems, is something of a sheltered workshop for those poor souls who might desire transportation to another century. The university takes youth on the cusp of adulthood, and turns them into children who must expend equal amounts of mental energy crafting an excuse or apology for an un-made bed as they do preparing for their next test in Christian piano music. It is interesting that many schools are accused of not adequately preparing students for life in the “real world” by virtue of providing an atmosphere that prolongs adolescence.
But one wonders what Bob’s students do once they are released from their four years of university paternalism and their roles as totally dependent children. Do they panic when they find themselves in an apartment of their own and having to decide between making a bed or getting to work on time? Do they fold under the pressure of making a selection at the music store? Even the Christian music store? Or do they avoid the uncertainty of modern life altogether by banding together with other emotional invalids and hopping from the sheltered enclave of their rigid university life to the sheltered enclave of a church residence, a remote mission, or a religious gated community. One thing that is certain, is that Bob does not prepare its students for life in the 21st century.
When I was standing in line just before the start of the commencement ceremony to receive my Bachelor of Arts degree from Metropolitan State University, the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences joked to me that it was fitting that we moved the tassels on our caps from the right side to the left at the completion of the graduation exercises. Moving the tassel merely symbolizes the completion of one’s education, or a part of it. Yet, the Dean was referring to the ideology of right and left, and how it was appropriate that we moved the tassel to the left given what he knew about my personal politics. I jokingly asked him in turn what he thought they did for commencement at Bob Jones University. “Oh,” he said with a wink, “they probably just keep the tassel on the right and shake it a little, if they move it at all.” Even though I was joking, I think the Dean may have been serious.
Browsing through their website, I found that BJU is a place of strict limitations and strange, surreal contrasts. Bob Jones is arguably the most conservative university in the United States. It received some minor publicity in recent years because it was the only remaining university that forbade inter-racial dating among it’s students. President Bush was also criticized for making a campaign visit to BJU, in light of its dating policy. It is a policy that Bob stubbornly adhered to right into the millennium, even though it disallowed them from ever receiving supplemental federal funding after a 1983 court decision that revoked their tax exempt status.
The policy of discrimination extends far beyond the realm of race relations at Bob Jones. Interestingly, Bob has what it calls a “nondiscriminatory policy” but this only extends to minorities of “race, color, national or ethnic origin” not minorities adhering to different “creeds” or to sexual minorities. The “nondiscrimination” is further revealed in a nuanced but a careful reading of the online student application. The online student application asks for three references, but one has to come from a pastor. The application also asks detailed questions about church attendance, the potential students’ marital status and the potential students’ parents’ marital status (by asking for mother’s and father’s last names separately). Presumably, potential students who are divorced or whose parents are divorced are denied admission. Added to that list might be students who answer the further nosy questions about drug and alcohol use. After all, god never had a problem with punishing the sons for the “sins” of their fathers, so why should Bob Jones University?
Interestingly, aside from the intensive purity test there are not very many questions on the application that seem designed to asses the intellectual capabilities of potential students. From what I can tell, BJU does not require anything beyond GED or some other type of highschool graduate equivalency. In shifting focus from what Bob expects of students to what Bob offers, one comes back to the brick wall of what Bob expects.
Bob offers its students the intellectual rigors of a Creationist Biology department of “scientists” whose sole pursuit is putting a scientific veneer on attempts to validate biblical propaganda. They use big words, wear white coats and use the title “Dr.” the way I use the bathroom—freely and without guilt.
Bob also offers students the opportunity to thrive in a spiritual environment where strict dress codes are enforced at all times. Men must wear ties, shave every day, cannot wear baggy pants, t-shirts or any other worldly clothes item. Women must dress like your great grandmother did, and the sexist rules at Bob even explicitly insist that women’s hairstyles must be “feminine” and not cut too short. Given the extreme lengths that Bob goes to prevent any possibility of male-female interaction (let alone fornication: men and women on “dates” at Bob are chaperoned at all times, meaning no hand holding allowed, among other things) one would think that the university would have incentive to encourage women to look less feminine. Ah, but given the fact that same sex interaction is the perfect ideal at Bob, I can see how that might present too much temptation for even the straightest sex starved gentleman or lady.
For those Straight Edge folks out there who feel they could survive four years of no sex, no drugs, and no booze at a university they should realize that rock n’ roll and un-made beds are added to the list of prohibitions at Bob. It only takes three music infractions to get expelled from Bob, and just about every type of music qualifies including rock, jazz, new age, and yes even Christian Contemporary! But that’s not all. Like a military academy, Residence Advisors actually inspect beds daily to make sure they are made. An un-made bed can result in more infractions. More than half a dozen different kinds of mandatory prayer group sessions must be attended as well. And work? Forget about it unless you have a chaperone with you at all times, and unless you can find a job that does not serve alcohol to patrons. Between making sure your tie is perfect, finding an ideologically pure job, mandatory bed making and prayer meetings and “touch free” dates, where does one even find the time to attend class?
If you do find the time, you’ll have a wonderful array of majors to choose from. Four different degrees in “bible,” five separate degrees in Christian ministry, four degrees in—I’m not kidding—missionary aviation, but for the extreme student, bent on thrill seeking there is always a rebellious degree in…piano pedagogy. Sure, who said music was banned? Just don’t bring your Jerry Lee Lewis sheet music to class!
Bob it seems, is something of a sheltered workshop for those poor souls who might desire transportation to another century. The university takes youth on the cusp of adulthood, and turns them into children who must expend equal amounts of mental energy crafting an excuse or apology for an un-made bed as they do preparing for their next test in Christian piano music. It is interesting that many schools are accused of not adequately preparing students for life in the “real world” by virtue of providing an atmosphere that prolongs adolescence.
But one wonders what Bob’s students do once they are released from their four years of university paternalism and their roles as totally dependent children. Do they panic when they find themselves in an apartment of their own and having to decide between making a bed or getting to work on time? Do they fold under the pressure of making a selection at the music store? Even the Christian music store? Or do they avoid the uncertainty of modern life altogether by banding together with other emotional invalids and hopping from the sheltered enclave of their rigid university life to the sheltered enclave of a church residence, a remote mission, or a religious gated community. One thing that is certain, is that Bob does not prepare its students for life in the 21st century.
