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Fundy U: BJU edition - Lizzy F. - 01-02-2011 02:09 AM
I'm not gonna lie...I'm a backsliding, non-KJV-using heathen who went to a state college because I got an instate-only scholarship. Low debt had a much higher priority over "Christian" environment.
But my sibling goes to BJU and I went to a BJU-centric church for a while, so I still get earfuls of Bergisms, Jonesisms, and I have a cabinet full of books with their theology (including a Scofield with my name on the cover!).
So, even if I've only been to the campus twice, it's had a big affect on my life. My sibling is enamored with the place and loads on the spiritual guilt during vacations home.
It's made Christmas shopping....interesting. There are lots of things we know my sibling would've loved, but there are so many things that don't "check". We were lucky to find what we did and I checked them against the handbook that's online illegally to make sure they were OK.
Any experiences of your own? Know someone else who went there/goes there still?
RE: Fundy U: BJU edition - Darrell - 01-02-2011 08:08 AM
My sister is still there.
RE: Fundy U: BJU edition - Just Curious - 01-02-2011 11:51 AM
Lizzy's description of her sister didn't ring any bells (there's a lot of girls there that fit it), but I wonder if I know her and Darrell's respective siblings.
I'm fortunate to have found a lot of non-bojy, kind, good friends that I can be myself with and/or rant to and I know they won't rat me out for being honest in my opinions and my humanity. Plus, being a Creative Writing major generally gives me the more out-of-the-box-thinking, artsy professors,
so I've been spared a lot of fundy junk in the classroom. *think positive, think positive* Eat the meat and spit out the bones, that's what you gotta do sometimes. 
God's not limited by fundy rules/legalism. He's been able to use my years there to shape my character in HIS way and to HIS LIKING, NOT the BJ cookie-cutter way. For that, I am thankful.
RE: Fundy U: BJU edition - Jenni - 01-02-2011 12:03 PM
For a while I really struggled with wondering if I made a HUGE, expensive mistake in going to BJU for six years. And it is true that I am still trying to get the "Fundy twitches" out of my system. But I did meet a lot of nice, non-bojy people there who haven't drunk the Kool-Aid. It has been wonderful to keep in contact with my friends who are now scattered throughout the globe.
And I am convinced that God was just as much in control when I was at BJ as He is now that I have left the Fundy world. If going to BJU for six years would have been colossal mistake, God could have arranged things differently. But He let me go, and He's using the years I spent there to remind me about His grace.
RE: Fundy U: BJU edition - Abdiel - 01-02-2011 12:06 PM
Your experience will vary based on your area of study. Much of the FA and more creative majors are "infested" with some relatively cool people and great teachers.
It is very possible for a critical thinking student to go through BJU without becoming a cookie-cutter fundamentalist. The administration even has a term for it. They call it going through "Cafeteria style". In other words, evaluating what is offered and only taking what you want. They really hate that. That was me and long term, as I learned, it is not a good fit but 8 semesters is quite doable so long as you realize that you will be looked at askance quite often, probably won't move up in campus organizations and may find yourself on some kind of spiritual probation or in counseling if you don't play the role and look the look well enough.
RE: Fundy U: BJU edition - Faith - 01-02-2011 02:56 PM
My older sister went there, so I had heard plenty of things I didn't like. Based on her experiences and my general loathing for Christianity at the time I wasn't planning on going there. Then my sr. year in high school I was there for a week for a scholastic competition, stayed in a dorm and saw it all first-hand. You couldn't have signed me up at gunpoint after that week.
RE: Fundy U: BJU edition - Lizzy F. - 01-02-2011 05:32 PM
Quote:Lizzy's description of her sister didn't ring any bells (there's a lot of girls there that fit it), but I wonder if I know her and Darrell's respective siblings.
I was purposely vague...I know BJU admin scours pages like this and I'm not feeding them any dirt. I read about what happened to Camille Lewis when they used her internet posts against her, so I'm going to spare my sibling.
I'm glad that there are people who enjoy it there and find ways to thrive.
The "Cafeteria style" bit makes a lot of sense. They even frown on it sometimes in state colleges, though not as harshly. I got a lot of weird looks for taking extra classes that had nothing to do with my major.
RE: Fundy U: BJU edition - Just Curious - 01-02-2011 07:21 PM
(01-02-2011 05:32 PM)Lizzy F. Wrote: I was purposely vague...I know BJU admin scours pages like this and I'm not feeding them any dirt. I read about what happened to Camille Lewis when they used her internet posts against her, so I'm going to spare my sibling.
Oh no no, I wasn't trying to draw out info! That's perfectly understandable! I was just thinking out loud. And I've taken quite a few electives unrelated to my major as well, and I'm glad I did. ^_^ Sorry that people weren't as understanding towards you though.
RE: Fundy U: BJU edition - Jordan M. Poss - 01-02-2011 08:21 PM
(01-02-2011 12:06 PM)Abdiel Wrote: It is very possible for a critical thinking student to go through BJU without becoming a cookie-cutter fundamentalist. The administration even has a term for it. They call it going through "Cafeteria style". In other words, evaluating what is offered and only taking what you want. They really hate that.
That's precisely what I did. When questioned about my time at BJU now, I just say I went for a good education, got it, and moved on. I'm not scarred, not bitter, and obviously not a raving Bible-thumper, so that answer usually proves satisfactory.
Oddly, I did the minimum necessary to "keep up appearances," so to speak, and wound up vice president of a society (Zeta Chi, which even still has a bojey reputation) and PC by the end of my five years. Go figure.
RE: Fundy U: BJU edition - mounty - 01-02-2011 10:53 PM
Somehow I managed to keep everyone happy with me on both sides of the fence. Never made it to hall leader but I was a PC for two and a half years and consistently had people tell me I was the "coolest" PC they'd had in their college careers. My last semester as a PC I even had a chat with my hall leader and outed quite a bit of my frustrations with the school in general, and I was shocked to find that he agreed with each and every one of them (he was pretty deep in the system, but I've since heard his family has had a falling out with the BJUosphere and he's become a bit more normal). I was on great speaking terms with Jim Berg and Jon Daulton (Dean of Men), but at the same time all the "reprobates" (there's a pejorative for you) felt comfortable coming to me for advice knowing I wouldn't just hand them over. I turned one couple in and felt absolutely awful about it and vowed never to do that again. And I was nominated for society officer every semester for the last two years of my college career (same society as Jordan) which I think turned into a running gag rather than a serious nomination...but I still had to be approved by the administration every time.
As a GA I was asked to chap by friends because they knew I was a very hands-off, next-room kind of chaperone. I was in the FA program so there were plenty of "free spirits" for me to hang with. When I went on staff I made it my mission to live my life as I felt I should (which included the local Christian radio station, lunches at the local bar/pizzeria, and trips to the theater) and encourage my student workers to think independently. I also fiercely defended them from the crazies they had to deal with in the res halls, classrooms, and sidewalks. Ultimately I proved too incompatible with the System to remain on staff, and so I moved out and up to PA, where I'm living virtually the same life but much more free.
I was in the Bible program for undergrad and the Fine Arts program for grad. I can truly say that the Fine Arts program is the place to be down there - there's enough dissension even among the faculty that you can turn out just fine after four or even six years.