A week ago (Fri Nov. 21, 2008), Bob Jones University officially apologized for past racial policies. Until 2000, the university prohibited interracial dating on the campus, plus the school didn’t even admit black students until 1971.

The fundamentalist Christian university which was founded in 1927 in South Carolina issued a statement, the following is part of it:

“We failed to accurately represent the Lord and to fulfill the commandment to love others as ourselves. For these failures we are profoundly sorry. Though no known antagonism toward minorities or expressions of racism on a personal level have ever been tolerated on our campus, we allowed institutional policies to remain in place that were racially hurtful.”

The university officials are bringing up the past hoping to put it all to bed once and for all. On the Internet, Bob Jones U. is still linked with racism in spite of policy changes and the school continues to receive questions about its views on race.

Response: Bob Jones U. has been in the middle of a number of controversies over the years.

During the 1950’s and 60’s, Bob Jones Sr, the university president became involved in a dispute with Billy Graham, accusing him of fostering heretical teaching and criticizing him for cooperating with Catholics and liberal churches in his campaigns. When Graham held a series of meetings near by, students were not allowed to attend.

The University exclusively allows the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible in its services and classrooms, but does not hold that it has the same authority as the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts. While other English versions of the Bible are criticized, the university is not part of the King-James-Only Movement.

The University has been known to be particularly critical of Catholicism, Mormonism, and main-line ‘liberal’ protestant churches, teaching and publishing material in opposition to those movements.

It is racial policies that have brought the greatest controversy and worst PR to the university. The school did not admit black students until 1971, but continued to ban interracial dating until it became an issue in the midst of the presidential election of 2000. For a long time the school held that their policies were ‘Biblically based’ but now admits that there is really no Biblical justification for their past racial views.           *Top   

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