British Journal of Urology? No.

Bundesverband Junger Unternehmer? Nein.

Boom Juridische Uitgevers? Nee.

Blow—No! Come on! Geez…

BJU — An Introduction & Brief Overview

BJU is the abbreviation for Bob Jones University. The Reverend Robert (Bob) Jones, a popular early 20th Century Christian evangelist, founded the college in Lynn Haven, Florida (near Panama City) back in 1927. In the 1930s, the college relocated to Cleveland, Tennessee and remained there until just after the end of the Second World War. Post-war, Bob Jones moved his college to a large (200 acre) plot of land in the outskirts of Greenville, South Carolina. There the college expanded and grew to become a university, Bob Jones University, and currently still occupies the same land (no longer in the outskirts) northeast of Greenville, just off Wade Hampton Boulevard.

The Founder (as he was called), Dr. Bob Jones, Sr., passed away in 1968, leaving BJU under the guiding hand of his only son, Dr. Bob Jones, Jr. (Are you seeing a trend here?) In the 1970s, Dr. Bob Jones, Jr. moved up to become the university chancellor and taking over the presidency was — yes, you guessed it — Dr. Bob Jones III.

Collectively, they were called (incorrectly) “The Doctor Bobs” — only one BJU faculty member (that I know of) referred to them (correctly) as “The Doctors Bob.” All of the Dr. Bobs were Christian evangelists. They saw to it that their (or their Dad’s or their Grandpa’s) university remained unapologetically religious. Not just “religious,” but fully embracing the conservative fundamentalist “the old time religion” of nearly a century ago — and that included all of the social and cultural norms of the early 20th Century, as well.

To say that BJU was strict would be an understatement. As some of us students used to quietly sing…

(Sing to the tune of Gloria Patri)

Glory be to The Founder,
And to His Son,
And to The Dean of Men!

As it was in ’27,
‘Tis now and ever shall be,
Rules without end!

Aaah-men, aaah-men.

Rules ran the gamut from (the obvious) no sex, drugs, rock-n-roll, to (the weird) no touching, no kissing, no interracial dating. There were rules about the cleanliness of your dorm room (whom you shared with up to 3 or 4 roomies), your hair length (or in my particular case, depth), your skirt length (girls were not allowed to wear pants), down to more subjective and ethereal things like, your overall attitude or your spiritual health. Punishment was received by the rule-breakers in several forms — the most common being “demerits” (negative points against you), but there was also being “permanently campused” (no off campus trips), and being “socialed” (no talking to the opposite sex.) There were so many colors and variations to all of the rules that summing them up in one paragraph is impossible.

BJU — First Contact

During the height of Carter Administration, economic malaise, disco, Saturday Night Fever, and Studio 54, it was then I entered into this very structured and reserved environment.

I’m going to quickly sum up my university years…

Four (4) consecutive years I listened hard to their tuition. Several consecutive semesters my name appeared on the Dean’s List (for high grade-point average) — academically I had very little trouble.

My trouble was keeping all of those multifaceted rules. Three weeks (that’s 15 class days) shy of graduation (undergraduate Bachelor of Science degree), I was expelled. Gather my things and escorted off campus. You don’t belong here — bye!

That expulsion bothered me. Not just the unfairness of it — and it was very unfair — but the fact that I had not finished. Unless I went back, “they” — all of those smarmy sanctimonious twats — would win.

Two years later, I was back, baby. A bit wiser. Living off-campus, this time. Certainly better at keeping what I truly thought (and did) under wraps, but I finished. And that was the goal. Dean’s List again. Missed honors by a smidge.

But, ultimately, I won.

That was nearly 35 years ago…