#pbju

Russ McClure asks in the +++Positives+++ group about what happens if the school closes.

Now Russ should read WutBJU. We’ve had this information for years.

Article XI. Dissolution of Corporation and Liquidation of the University

Section 1. In the event the time should ever come when the Board determines that it cannot maintain the positions outlined in the preamble, bylaws, or policies or the operation of the University is no longer feasible, the Executive Committee shall be authorized to close the University and dispose of the property with the approval of the Board of Trustees. The Executive Committee shall function as the representative agent of the Board of Trustees to find a suitable buyer for the property. The Executive Committee is not authorized to accept any offer without the approval of the Board of Trustees.

Proceeds from the sale will be used first to settle any outstanding financial obligations of the University, for teach-out purposes and then to compensate present employees with a generous severance payment based on years of service and merit. The remainder will go to ministries that are aligned spiritually and philosophically with the founding purposes of Bob Jones University. These ministries will be chosen by the Board of Trustees.

Section 2. The Executive Committee is charged with the duty of enforcing the above provision. The Executive Committee shall have the power to call a meeting of the Board when, in their sound judgment, it appears that the University can no longer be operated in accordance with the principles set forth herein or if the pulpit or classroom ever departs from the University creed, embraces a non-propositional or allegorical view of the Scriptures or an evolutionary view of creation, or ceases to believe that "whatever the Bible says is so." The majority of the Board of Trustees, in pursuit of this notice, is mandated and directed to carry out the above provisions for the dissolution of the corporation and the liquidation of the property. The vote to dissolve the corporation will be made by the Board of Trustees. For this vote, at least twenty (20) members shall be required and must be in personal attendance.

Now that’s the version from November 2013. I have earlier versions as well, and it’s fairly consistent. If you’d like to see the earlier versions, I can show you those. Just ask!

But Bruce McBride, honey. No. Furman University will not be buying that campus. First of all, have you BEEN to Furman’s campus? They don’t need BJU’s hand-me-downs.

Wait.

Each side must show that no one “wins” unless the cause wins. Only one side, the university’s side, must come out the winner. That will not happen if the permanent is sacrificed on the altar of the immediate.

All -- The Board and The President -- must be subsumed under “the cause.”

It’s all just a round-about way of saying that Bob Jones III has to be happy no matter what, isn’t it?

The old-school fundies accused the Beauty and the Beast production at BJU this Spring of being “WOKE.”

The FBFI board continues, and this is revealing.

The lack of enforcement of the campus dress and appearance standards has allowed for a campus look that is increasingly like the world. While very conservative dress standards can become a form of legalism, the alarming absence of the historical dress expectations of BJU has created an environment where enforcing reasonable modesty is nearly impossible.

WutBJU has covered this for years. BJU states rules that it does not enforce. And the problem is that having rules that are not enforced means that they will be enforced on a whim -- that is, abusively.

And then you can almost hear the quaver in the +++Positive+++ voice with the next paragraph:

While BJU is a grand story of God’s goodness and grace, the 2022 leadership failure is a dark chapter of human pride, arrogance, and ill-advised, if not unethical, board leadership. In this updated open letter, we will include the background and details of how BJU became embroiled in this leadership crisis as well as various documents and letters related to the situation.

So they pretty plainly lay out the duel here. There is the GRAND STORY vs. a dark chapter. Pettit is at the helm of the GRAND STORY, but John Lewis is the singular cause of the dark chapter.

The +++Positives+++ continue their willful ignorance:

Yet John Lewis remains in his board leadership position. He has not apologized; he has taken no responsibility for the high cost of the public leadership crisis he created; and he continues to badger Dr. Pettit and his administration, even after the November 17 vote when the board stated that they were “excited to work with Dr. Pettit.”

Of course, he hasn’t apologized. What school do you think you’re dealing with here?

After they spoke too soon about John Lewis’s “failed” campaign, they re-write history.

For the faculty, staff, and administrators, his attempted regime change was not merely an intellectual or philosophical exercise in control politics—it was a paralyzing threat. The second half of the year 2022 for BJU employees was a debilitating, life-dominating, emotionally overwhelming crisis that they sincerely believed could have put their college, jobs, ministries, departmental projects and goals, and their livelihoods at risk. Due to his actions, some faculty members have resigned, and others are preparing to. The chairman’s decisions and actions affected the very people he is called to serve, support, inspire, and defend in his role as “trustee” and as the chairman of the volunteer board of trustees.

You’ve got to be kidding. Every last BJU employee has felt that threat for their entire tenure at BJU. Constantly. All the time. We’ve said it over and over and over again. Not just me, but for a century! Remember BJU’s “stormy history”?