Bob Jones University apologizes for racial 'failures'

By John O'Connor - The (Columbia) State

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COLUMBIA -- The president of Bob Jones University has apologized for past school policies that excluded black students and banned interracial dating.

A statement posted Thursday on the school's Web site said those policies were based on societal beliefs and not Scripture.

The school admitted black students starting in 1971 and ended its ban on interracial dating in 2000.

"We conformed to the culture rather than provide a clear Christian counterpoint to it," the statement said. "In so doing, we failed to accurately represent the Lord and to fulfill the commandment to love others as ourselves. For these failures, we are profoundly sorry."

School officials declined to comment further on the statement, but said BJU president Stephen Jones had been considering the idea and thought the time was right for the apology.

The university has an enrollment of about 5,000 students, and along with preparatory schools and affiliated churches, serves as a cornerstone of Greenville's fundamentalist Christian community.

The university has long held political clout during South Carolina's crucial early Republican presidential primary, with candidates having sought out the blessing of the school's president.

In 2000, then-candidate George W. Bush stirred an uproar when he spoke at the school and did not criticize school policies, including the ban on interracial dating. Later that year, then-university president Bob Jones III rescinded the ban during a television interview with CNN's Larry King.

Those controversies, said state Rep.-elect Dan Hamilton, R-Greenville and a 1998 graduate of the school, have lingered too long.

"It's probably a long overdue statement," Hamilton said. The statement "accurately reflects the sentiments of the vast majority of the school body."

"Race relations were actually quite good when I was there."

Lonnie Randolph, head of the S.C. NAACP, said the statement was a small step forward for equality.

"It's amazing how long lies can live. No lie can live forever," Randolph said. "It lets you know just how slow progress is to be."

Randolph said he had met with Bob Jones III and believed he had some influence in Thursday's statement.

In the statement, the school cited numerous Bible passages that supported the idea that all men were equal in Christ.

"As believers we are also committed to demonstrating the love of Christ daily in our relationships with others," the statement said, "disregarding the economic, cultural and racial divisions invented by sinful humanity."