Valerie Francia Review of Bob Jones Food Broker
I received two degrees from the school (2014, 2016...
I received two degrees from the school (2014, 2016) and had an excellent overall experience - I grew spiritually, academically, emotionally, etc. and I've had success in work because of it. To address some of the issues brought up by low reviews:
1) Accreditation/Sub-Par Education/"Brainwashing": BJU has both regional SACSCOC accreditation and national TRACS accreditation. Their educational standards have always been high and their core liberal arts curriculum is excellent preparation for any workplace. The accreditation process has only strengthened already strong programs. Check it out for yourself before relying on random internet reviews. As for the "brainwashing" charge, the school has always been unabashedly Christian. They were started because they wanted to give Christian students higher education from a Christian perspective. But their motto has always been, "teach students how to think, not what to think." If you think you'll get an unbiased education anywhere, you're deluded. Every school teaches from some view of the world, but you hope that they teach you to be open-minded and look at the evidence. That's what BJU does. I was never told to believe baseless assertions without proof. Most textbooks used are the secular standards for those classes.
2) Strict Standards/Legalism/Cult: Again, this school was created for conservative Christians. If you're not a Christian who takes your faith seriously, you'll struggle here. That's just the bottom line. Doesn't make it a bad or oppressive school or a cult. It's tailored to help someone grow in all areas of life. If you don't want training in other areas than just academics, don't go here or you'll find it somewhat intrusive. But if you want to grow spiritually, grow some discipline, and become an adult, come. You won't agree with everything, but just know that coming in. Also - women can wear pants, students can go off campus without adult supervision, and in general everything feels super normal on campus aside from people being nicer and looking a bit nicer than normal.
3) Racism/Intolerance: The school had racist policies in the past. So did most schools. Clemson didn't admit black students until 1960, USC until 1963, Furman until 1964. Their inter-racial dating policy gets a lot of attention, and it was wrong. But it was also put into place long before black students were admitted as a response to an Asian parent's concern. Yes, they kept it for far too long. Yes, they dug in their heels to defend it to the Supreme Court. Yes, they've apologized for it over and over. And yes, it's been almost 20 years since it was lifted and the school isn't racist. In fact, in the wake of a shooting of a police officer in Greenville (whose parents teach at BJU), the student body signed a prayer banner for the black teenager who shot him and then killed himself. I should know, because I got to deliver that banner, and they sent out an article I wrote about the incident to the whole school (in the Greenville News) The school is still working on eliminating unconscious bias (like every organization), but overall has made major steps in the right direction.
4) Treatment of Women: Women are not taught to "be sheep" as one reviewer commented. As a woman, I was invested in, taught to be a leader, given leadership opportunities, taught to think critically, to speak up, to debate, to fight for what's right. Sure, not everyone at the school respects women in leadership like they ought to (like every organization literally everywhere), but it's an emphasis from the top down to change that culture.
Hopefully these comments help you in making the decision of whether to consider the school. It's certainly not for everyone and it has problems like every university you might choose to attend, but it's certainly not the place people have made it out to be. Go with an open mind and heart.
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