BJU then and now...modesty

 My wife and I have spent some time at BJU lately and we have become convinced that the Lord must be deeply grieved to see the drastic changes in the area of modesty. It's very much like the world - bold and sexy. Tight jeans, tight/short skirts, mid-thigh and worse. Is this simply cultural influence? Is the administration doing their best but simply cannot enforce the rules? If this were so why do I see student staff workers in the same attire? And how is it that attire such as these can be purchased through the BJU website? Please notice that the wording under the short athletic shorts on their website is encouraging girls not only to own a pair of these but to wear them from the gym to the mall.

Shorts

Dr. Bob Jones Sr. began the school specifically to give young men who are serious about the things of the Lord a safe place for them to prepare for the ministry...a place where they would not be stumbled. Back then the issue was theological liberalism. I'm afraid now the school itself is at serious risk of stumbling young men (and young women) in the area of morality.

Dear President,
For the Lord's sake please take modesty and moral purity VERY, VERY, VERY seriously. The Lord is not blind and we dare not grieve Him.


Machen White
Ephesians 5:11

Update:
If you have tried the above links you'll see that they are no longer working. That is because they have removed those two items from the website. I was informed that the website is a third party website and services many university athletic programs. The school administrator that I talked to said that they have been trying to get the website to remove these items for some time because they do not follow school guidelines on dress. The rationale for using the website is to obtain better prices. (you can see this exchange in the comment section of this blog post). I appreciate the efforts made in regard to this website. Now we have the whole campus to fix.










Comments

jonnygamet said…
Hi Machen. Actually, the site you reference is not a BJU website but that of a vendor we use. They write the descriptions for these items and those descriptions serve hundreds of collegiate websites that this company hosts. They offer thousands of stock items and then add the "logo" of whatever school to that apparel. This allows us to keep costs low for people who wish to purchase a t-shirt, coffee mug or other items.

We've had several instances in which we've asked that vendor to remove certain items due to it not being in accordance with BJU's code of conduct. Actually, the shorts you referenced were removed.

I was here in 2005-09 as a student and now have served on staff for the past decade (as a teacher and in working in the athletics department). I've never been more proud of BJU and the work that God is doing here. Our students are making an impact in the world for God's glory and the vision of the founder to equip men and women with a strong biblical foundation is still the basis of everything we do here.

Jonny Gamet
Sports Information Director
BJU Bruins
February 4, 2020 at 6:25 AM
machen.white said…
Mr. Garret,

I checked the website this morning and you are right. The website admin did remove the shirt and shorts. Thank you! I will say that I find it hard to believe the founder would be OK with the state of affairs regarding modesty around campus and especially at volleyball and track/field. I see official school athletic outfits using shorts just like the ones referenced on the website being worn for public games. I have personally spoken to current high level administrators about modesty on campus in general and they are not ok with what's going on. Hopefully an improvement can be made soon. Please know I love the school and really appreciate folks like you ministering to the students

Machen
February 6, 2020 at 5:53 PM
jonnygamet said…
I would be happy to meet with you and discuss in person should you want to, Machen. Suffice it to say, there is clothing that is appropriate for the occasion that isn't appropriate in other settings. A simple example of this is that I wouldn't allow my daughters to wear their swimming suits to the mall, but in the same way, I wouldn't want them to wear a dress to compete in a sporting event.

We've made the decision to equip our student-athletes with apparel that doesn't impede them in competition while also being much different than the "norm" for that sport. These uniforms are modest for the setting that they are in, understanding that those same uniforms are not the norm for everyday attire.

I talk with "high-level administrators" on campus almost daily and they have given overwhelming support of our athletics programs because of the testimony of our student-athletes in and out of competition.

Again, I'd be happy to meet and discuss further should you want. My contact information is on our website www.bjubruins.com/staff.
February 7, 2020 at 5:38 AM
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