This is a list of notable people associated with Bob Jones University, located in the American city of Greenville, South Carolina.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Notable graduates

Michael P. V. Barrett, academic dean, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary (former president, Geneva Reformed Seminary)
Cliff Barrows, long-time music and program director for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
Ernest T. Campbell, senior pastor, Riverside Church, 1968-1976
Alan Cropsey, Michigan state senator
Gordon Denlinger, Pennsylvania state representative
Matthew Diffee, New Yorker cartoonist
Raymond Bryan Dillard, Old Testament scholar
Ed Dobson, former associate of Jerry Falwell, pastor, evangelical author
Stuart Epperson, co-founder and chairman of Salem Communications and a member of the conservative Council for National Policy
Dan Forrest, composer
Chad Frye, cartoonist and illustrator
Mark M. Gillen, Pennsylvania state representative
David Gustafson, judge, United States Tax Court
Dan Hamilton (politician), member of South Carolina House of Representatives
Ron Hamilton, composer, singer, and writer Patch the Pirate, Majesty Music
Terry Haskins, former Speaker Pro Tempore, South Carolina House of Representatives
Ken Hay, founder of The Wilds Christian camps
Dayton Hobbs, pastor, pioneer Christian school administrator, putative inventor of Tee Ball
Arlin Horton, founder of Pensacola Christian College, Pensacola, Florida
Rand Hummel, director of The Wilds of New England
Asa Hutchinson, former U.S. Representative and Under-Secretary for Border & Transportation Security, Department of Homeland Security, 46th Governor of Arkansas
Tim Hutchinson, pastor, former U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from Arkansas
Homer Kent, New Testament scholar, former president of Grace Theological Seminary
Billy Kim, past president, Baptist World Alliance
Tim LaHaye, best-selling author of eschatological fiction
Eugene Merrill, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Old Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary; past president of Evangelical Theological Society
Virginia Mollenkott, specialist in feminist theology and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender theology
Adam Morgan (politician), composer, member of South Carolina House of Representatives
Wendy Nanney, member of South Carolina House of Representatives
Les Ollila, evangelist, second president of Northland Baptist Bible College
Rhonda Paisley, artist, author; former Ulster politician; daughter of Ian Paisley
Monroe Parker, evangelist
James R. Payton, church historian
Steve Pettit, evangelist, fifth president of BJU
Ernest Pickering, pastor; author; president of Baptist Bible College, Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, and Central Baptist Theological Seminary, Minnesota
Robert L. Reymond, Reformed theologian and author
Haddon Robinson, president of Denver Seminary and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
Sam Rohrer, Pennsylvania state representative
Peter Ruckman, Baptist minister, writer, and founder of Pensacola Baptist Institute; leading proponent of one of the most extreme “KJV-only” positions; outspoken critic of BJU
Joel Salatin, organic farmer and author; owner of Polyface Farm, featured in Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma
Moisés Silva, authority on biblical hermeneutics; past president of the Evangelical Theological Society
Ryan Silvey, member, Missouri House of Representatives
Bryan Simonaire, Maryland state senator
Richard Stratton, former president, Clearwater Christian College, Clearwater, Florida
Danny Verdin, South Carolina state senator
Robert E. Webber, theologian, author of more than 40 books on worship, liturgy, and the early church
Notable faculty and staff
Carl Blair (1932-2018), painter and sculptor
Emery Bopp (1924-2007), painter and sculptor; chair, Division of Art, 1953-92[1]
Walter Fremont (1924-2007), Dean of the School of Education, professionalized BJU’s education curriculum; leader in the Christian school movement; namesake of the university’s fitness center[2]
Dwight Gustafson (1930-2014), conductor and composer; assumed the position of acting dean of the BJU School of Fine Arts in 1954, when he was 24 years old, and served as dean for forty years; known for writing and arranging more than 160 musical compositions; namesake of Dwight Gustafson Fine Arts Center[3]
Eunice Hutto Morelock (1904-1947), mathematics professor; one of the first female academic deans of a coeducational college in the US;[4] namesake of a wing of the Bob Jones Academy quadrangle
Robert Kirthwood “Lefty” Johnson (1910-1971), University business manager from 1935 until his death; namesake of a residence hall
Darell Koons (1924-2016), painter
Laurence Morton (1924-2002), chairman of the BJU piano department for more than forty years
Robert N. Schaper (1922-2007), evangelical theologian, resigned from the BJU faculty in 1952 and completed his academic career at Fuller Theological Seminary
Katherine Corne Stenholm (1917-2015), founding director of the University’s Unusual Films studio; one of the first women film directors in America; keynote speaker at the Cannes Film Festival, 1958[5]
Jamie Langston Turner (b. 1949), novelist; her novel A Garden to Keep won 2002 Christy Award; her Winter Birds was named one of the “one hundred best books” of 2006 by Publishers Weekly[6]
Notable honorary degree recipients
John Ashcroft, Attorney General of the United States (1999)
David Beasley, governor of South Carolina (1999)
W. E. Biederwolf, evangelist (1931)
Chiang Kai-shek, head of state of the Chinese Nationalist government
Madame Chiang Kai-shek (1952)
Frank G. Clement, governor of Tennessee (1956)
Percy Crawford, evangelist, founder of The King’s College (1940)
James Parker Dees, founder and first bishop of the Anglican Orthodox Church (1965)
Vic Eliason, founder of VCY America (2001)
Theodore Epp, founder, Back to the Bible radio broadcast (1955)
Billy Graham, evangelist (1948)
Lindsey Graham, U.S. Senator, South Carolina (1999)
Trey Gowdy, U.S. Representative, South Carolina, 4th District (2017)
Mordecai Ham, evangelist and prohibitionist (1935)
Jesse Helms, U.S. Senator, North Carolina (1976)
Richmond Pearson Hobson, admiral, congressman from Georgia, Medal of Honor recipient, temperance crusader (1935)
William Henry Houghton, fourth president of Moody Bible Institute (1942)
Bob Inglis, U. S. Representative, South Carolina (1995)
Harry A. Ironside, Bible teacher, author, pastor of Moody Memorial Church, Chicago (1941)
Olin Johnston, U.S. Senator, South Carolina (1948)
Robert T. Ketcham, founder of General Association of Regular Baptist Churches (1961)
B.R. Lakin, Baptist evangelist (1949)
Lester Maddox, staunch segregationist,[7] governor of Georgia (1969)
Ernest Manning, premier of Alberta (1947)
Carl McIntire, radio preacher; founder of Bible Presbyterian Church (1953)
Henry Morris, a founder of the young-earth creationist movement (1966)
Harold J. Ockenga, pastor of Park Street Congregational Church, Boston, Massachusetts; later, a leader in the “neo-evangelical” movement opposed by BJU (1944)
Ian Paisley, founder and moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster; future leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, First Minister of Northern Ireland (1966) and spiritual leader of Loyalist terrorist groups(UDA, UVF).
John R. Rice, evangelist and founder of The Sword of the Lord (1945)
Homer Rodeheaver, music evangelist, pioneer gospel music publisher (1942)
Tim Scott, U.S. senator (2018)
Charles Stevens, founder and first president of Piedmont Baptist College (1958)
Billy Sunday, evangelist (1935)
Helen “Nell” (Mrs. Billy) Sunday, evangelist (1940)
Strom Thurmond, U.S. Senator, South Carolina (1948)
Mel Trotter, rescue mission founder, Bible conference speaker (1935)
George Wallace, governor of Alabama (1964)
Notable benefactors
W. J. Barge (1898-1968), founding member of the American Board of Abdominal Surgeons and president of the Miami Christian Businessman’s Committee. Barge Memorial Hospital, the University’s infirmary, was dedicated in his memory in 1968.
David D. Davis (1917-2002), founder, of D.D. Davis Construction Co., Youngstown, Ohio; philanthropist; member of BJU Board of Trustees for 31 years; namesake (with his wife, Velma) of The Davis Field House and two buildings in Youngstown
Bibb Graves, two-term governor of Alabama (1927—31, 1935–39). Although Graves was Exalted Cyclops (chapter president) of the Montgomery branch of the Ku Klux Klan when he was first elected governor, he was also a progressive who sought to improve public education in Alabama. Graves served as a member of the board of trustees of Bob Jones College and a BJU residence hall was named for him until 2011.[8]
Lillian R. Howell (1876-1958), native of Bridgeport, Connecticut; although she never visited the campus nor met any of the Joneses, at her death, she left the bulk of her estate to BJU. The Howell Memorial Science Building is named in her honor.[9]
John Sephus Mack (1880-1940), early twentieth century entrepreneur who (with Walter C. Shaw) created G.C. Murphy Stores, a regional chain of more than two hundred “five and dimes” headquartered in McKeesport, PA. Mack was a significant contributor to Bob Jones College during the Depression—when Murphy Stores were actually expanding—and he underwrote major building projects on the Cleveland campus. Mack also gave business advice to Bob Jones, Sr. and “Lefty” Johnson before his death in 1940. The BJU library is named for him and a residence hall for his wife.[10]
Robert Lee McKenzie (1870-1956), developer and first mayor of Panama City, Florida. The college charter was signed in the office/library of his home, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[11] The Dixon-McKenzie Dining Common is named in honor of him, his wife, and his sister-in-law, Mary Elizabeth Dixon.
Agnes Moorehead, actress of Bewitched fame, willed her Ohio estate to BJU. Moorehead’s father was a Presbyterian minister, and in 1921, when Agnes Moorehead was an undergraduate at Muskingum College, New Concord, Ohio—a Presbyterian school founded by her uncle—the college presented an honorary degree to Bob Jones, Sr.
James Y. Smith (1874-1953), owner of Smith Cafeteria, South Bend, Indiana; a chance meeting with Bob Jones, Sr. led to a friendship and increasing financial contributions to BJU; namesake of a residence hall
Notable former students (non-graduates)
Billy Graham, evangelist, attended one semester
Katherine Helmond, actress, attended one year and had role in Unusual Films’ Wine of Morning (1955)
John F. MacArthur, radio preacher; pastor, Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California; president of The Master’s College; attended two years
Fred Phelps, pastor of Westboro Baptist Church; known for “God Hates Fags” website and public protests; his association with the school ended abruptly after three semesters; once claimed he left because of opposition to the school’s racial policies and later denied that he had ever attended[12]
Charles D. Provan; his Bible and Birth Control provides a theological justification for Quiverfull; attended two years
Chris Sligh, American Idol finalist during season 6; attended three and a half years

bob jones university rules

I mentioned the infamous Bob Jones University student handbook in an earlier post after explaining it was the school from which one of the extremist authors I was reading as part of a self-imposed cultural studies program graduated back in 1950.  It was the university that famously insisted God didn’t want blacks intermingling with whites and refused to admit non-married black students until as late as 1975.  It was ultimately money that changed their mind as the IRS revoked their tax exempt status, culminating in the 1983 Bob Jones University v. United States Supreme Court case.

Anyway, I’m reading through the entire student handbook now.  It’s incredible.  This is a real place, here in the United States, that’s really accredited!  It actually exists!  I want to go visit it and see what it’s like in person.  You need to download the 2013-2014 version and read it yourself.  It’s setting up the entire student body for a life of paternalism and authoritarian rule.  This is how governments become despotic.  This is how you create a dependent citizenry.  People who are adults, and should already be out in the world navigating it, are still being treated the same way a lot of us were when we were in elementary school.

My mother-in-law called while I was going through it and I summarized some of the handbook.  She forbid me from ever sending her grandchildren there.  I assured her that will not only never be a problem, they probably wouldn’t even let our future kids on the soil as their mere existence is problematic.

Bob Jones University, Front Campus Fountain by John Foxe. Released into the public domain.

Are you ready?  If you don’t feel like reading it yourself, let’s go through this!  It’s unlike anything you’ve seen in the United States.

• First-year students need to be accompanied by another student who is 21 or older and of the same gender if going off campus after 8 p.m. for any purpose other than work.  They can’t be trusted to go out into the world by themselves. [page 20]
• Male and female students cannot be alone in a classroom, rehearsal studio or other room. [page 22]
• Male students must obtain the dean’s approval to date a female day student or non-student. [page 25]
• The school reserves the right from forbidding any student from getting a job and working in the community. [page 26]
• Students cannot attend sporting events or paid events (presumably concerts or plays) on Sunday. [page 27]
• Students may not eat in a restaurant that has a tavern or bar-like reputation, atmosphere, or that does not section off the dining room from a live entertainment area. [page 27]
• Any music which, in whole or in part, derives from the following broadly defined genres or their sub-genres: Rock, Pop, Country, Jazz, Electronic/ Techno, Rap/Hip Hop or the fusion of any of these genres is banned even if it is Christian. [page 29]
• Students may only view “G” rated movies in private. [page 29]
• Students may not play video games rated above E10 (games meant for 10 year olds and older) or a game that contains graphic blood, gore, sensual or demonic themes, violent first-person shooting, suggestive dress, bad language, or rock music. [page 30]
• The Internet on campus is filtered and censored, but if a site gets past the filter that is not approved by the authorities, you are to immediately report it. [page 30]
• Campus Internet activity is monitored and tracked. [page 30]
• You may not visit celebrity home pages on the Internet, or any site that contains secular music lyrics, or any joke/humor site. [page 30]
• Students with smart phones or tablets are not to use unfiltered Internet. [page 30]
• Students are forbidden to read magazines such as GQ, Men’s Fitness, ESPN, Esquire, or People, either in print or electronically.
• Gambling – which is defined as “risking the material provisions of God on chance – is prohibited. [page 31]  I’m guessing that means they’ll never offer an actuarial undergraduate degree for budding insurance executives, which is just as well given that it requires math.
• Women must wear a neckline that is no lower than four fingers’ width below the collarbone. [page 32]
• You need to dress professionally and academically, which includes women wearing “Denim jackets” [page 33].  I’m trying not to laugh but I almost have tears streaming down my face.  This is not 1980, nor is it a Bon Jovi music video.
• You need to dress appropriately after hours, too, which includes “Denim skirts or dresses”.  [page 33]
• Tattoos are forbidden. [page 34]
• Only two matching ear piercings are acceptable. [page 34]
• Men are forbidden from wearing Abercrombie & Fitch clothing, including that manufactured for subsidiary Hollister, even if it otherwise complies. [page 35]
• Men working out are only allowed to wear sleeveless athletic shirts if they are exercising inside. [page 36]
• Hair color must be absolutely natural with no modification. [page 37]
• Hair length must be between off the collar and ears. [page 37]
• Fauxhawks are forbidden. [page 37]
• Sideburns cannot be lower than the opening of the ear. [page 37]
• Students must shave their faces every morning if they are under 25 years old. [page 37]
• Students must close the blinds to their dorms when night falls. [page 38]
• Residence hall rooms are checked at 11 a.m., Monday through Friday. [page 38]
• Residence hall students must turn off the lights and be in bed by midnight. [page 39]
• Residence hall students must stay inside of their room between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. [page 39]
• Day students taking 12 credit hours or more must attend chapel daily.
• A demerit system is used that includes docking points for “sacrilegious behavior” and “misuse of media”. [page 45]
• Student emails can be scanned and reviewed for objectionable content. [page 46]
• Student computers, mp3 players, cellphones, et cetera are subject to inspection. [page 47]
• The school can speak to the student’s parents at any time about anything involving the student. [page 47]
• Students may not join outside gyms for their fitness needs. [page 54]
• Students who get married at 20 years old or younger are not permitted to continue their education. [page 56]
• Students should watch out for “Scatological realism – pertaining to excretory functions” in media. [page 64]
• Students should judge media as appropriate by asking, “Does the story’s resolution reward good and punish evil or honor wisdom and scorn foolishness?” [page 65]  I’m not sure how one would teach a history course if that’s the standard as a lot of bad people did just fine.

I have to understand the history of this place.  I’m sure there is a decent biography out there.  I need to understand the demographics (I’d bet money I can almost get within 10% of the median household income statistics and other sociological clues but I want to be certain).  This is captivating and horrifying at the same time.

On the upshot, even though this is a recipe for cultural disaster and infantilism in a population that would make the founding fathers sick, they do have some talented students in the music department.  I enjoyed this senior harp recital (with the exception of the violins at places like 1:25).