BJU Papers: number 02

“When Stephen stepped out, I thought Steve Pettit could be the next President. I found out later that Stephen was thinking the same, without us ever speaking to one another. We said nothing to the Executive Committee. They did their job, and it was obvious to them. It was very prayerful and Spirit-led. Pettit is the man for the hour.” -Dr. Bob Jones III

"When it was time for the Executive Committee to vote, they weren’t sure it would be the final vote, but they wanted to see where they were at if there were any doubts or anything. Everyone wrote a name on a ballot and folded it in half, and passed it to Larry Jackson. With the seven votes before the chairman, opening the first one, Steve Pettit. Opened the second one—Steve Pettit. Opened the third one—Steve Pettit, and tears started streaming down his face. The other four—Steve Pettit, Steve Pettit, Steve Pettit, Steve Pettit. By that time, every person on the Executive Committee was in tears because we believed with all of their hearts that God had led them to the man that He had to be president of BJU, and they were excited about it.” -The late Dr. John Lewis, BJU BOT Chairman

On September 19, 2013, the BJU Board of Trustees unanimously confirmed its executive committee’s election of Larry Jackson as chairman, replacing Dr. Bob Jones III, and becoming the first chairman not to have the surname “Jones.” Three months later, Dr. Stephen Jones resigned due to health challenges. Dr. Steve Pettit was elected the fifth president of BJU on May 8, 2014. For the first time in the school’s 87-year history, there was a President not in the Jones Family.

Dr. Petitt began his administration officially on May 10, 2014. Dr. Pettit focused on implementing many of the recommendations that came out of Stephen Jones’ Administration and the BJU Board’s approved Strategic Plan (2011-1016). The plan included:

1. Focus on our Mission

2. Embracing a Culture of Appropriate Change 

3. Enhance the Value of a BJU Education

4. Develop our People

5. Improve Communication

6. Steward our Resources and Explore Opportunities for Potential Growth

The Pettit administration began taking shape. Gary Weier was already an Executive Vice President, Provost over Academics, and Marshall Franklin was Executive Vice President over operations when Dr. Pettit arrived in May 2014. John Matthews was Vice President of Development. In the Fall of 2014, Dr. Pettit hired Dr. Sam Horn as Executive Vice President of Ministerial Training and Enrollment. Dr. Bruce McAllister had already stepped down from being over the ministerial class. Dr. Steve Hankins was leading the Bob Jones Memorial Seminary when Pettit began. In 2015, Dr. Bobby Wood came and was made the Chief Enrollment Officer under Dr. Sam Horn. Dr. Alan Benson came in 2018 as Vice President of Student Life.

BJU’s Fifth Administration faced some serious headwinds, however.

▪ Demoralized faculty and staff

▪ Disengaged and alienated alumni, churches, and legacy families

▪ Disinterested donors – no real pathway to increasing our donations – no tax-exemption

▪ Declining enrollment (alarming decline – 1100 students decline in 6 years)

▪ A difficult, if not impossible, financial picture that threatened the immediate viability and long-term sustainability of the university

▪ Difficulty in retaining and recruiting faculty

▪ Demographics of the greying faculty/staff at every level, internal and external

▪ Grace Report and a tarnished institutional brand

▪ Alarming headwinds facing higher education

In Pettit’s official statement following being voted in as BJU’s fifth president, he gave clear indications of what this administration’s emphases would be:

“I’m overwhelmed by the opportunity to serve as BJU’s president. For decades, I’ve appreciated the ministry of BJU and the Jones family to me and my family. I truly desire to honor BJU’s heritage and, by God’s grace-to fulfill its mission. I particularly want to emphasize the primacy of the local church, encourage relational discipleship among our students, faculty, and staff, and continue the emphasis on academic excellence and living a godly life.”

Dr. Pettit had only been at BJU a few months when the marketing director told Pettit that the students were unhappy at BJU and if he would consider changing the rules, then they would change their attitude, and the overall atmosphere of the school would be different. Steve responded to that counsel with, “I have been part of different ministries for 34 years, and we have always had Biblical lifestyle expectations. The rules were generally not the issue.”

Instead, Pettit focused on having a vibrant spiritual atmosphere by improving preaching and discipleship, as well as improving the leadership approach that would be neither oppressive nor permissive. Pettit’s team, from the start, was committed to relational discipleship and servant leadership. Another early conversation, this one with the Chancellor, Dr. Bob Jones III, contrasted the different philosophies of ministry. Dr. Bob said to Steve, “We are a top-down run organization.” Pettit responded, “That will not work for me. I am not smart enough. I must work with our people and collaborate with them. I am willing to make the calls as the president, but we work as a team.”

At the beginning of the Pettit administration, there was also a terrible problem with the BJU brand. His approach was to seek to change the University from the inside out. There needed to be a culture change- one of servant leadership, Biblical discipleship, spiritual growth, grace, and a healthy, relational approach to student life. Team members, like Dr. Bobby Wood, helped flesh out the “Pettit Doctrine” by articulating some Guiding Principles for Biblical Change that ran from 2017-2023. They were:

1. The Intentional Pursuit of Love as a Central Core Value for BJU.

Criticism – BJU is legalistic, and tough love is all we felt.

2. The Pursuit of a Discipleship Model designed on influence more than control.

Criticism – BJU is controlling behavior and not changing minds.

3. The thoughtful and intentional pursuit of theological clarity and doctrinal integrity.

Criticism – BJU is authoritarian and arrogant. BJU rejects good, Bible preaching churches and asserts itself over the local Church.

4. The Spirit-enabled pursuit of humility.

Criticism – BJU institutionally is arrogant and is too critical of other Christian ministries.

5. The careful pursuit of Biblical equality (read diversity).

Criticism – BJU is a racist school.

6. The Biblical pursuit of empowering others to rise to their greatest potential.

Criticism – BJU is authoritarian and top-down.

7. The bold pursuit of faithful believers who embrace our conservative values and want our conservative influence.

Criticism – BJU won’t connect with people outside our normal orbit.

Dr. Pettit knew, however, that this approach would be opposed by some on the far right. Many of these folks had opposed him before he ever came to BJU. Throughout his presidency at BJU, from 2014-2023, there was consistent opposition from the Foundations Baptist Fellowship International leadership and affiliates. There were four major negative interactions with the FBFI. The first was in a meeting MC’d by the late Dr. Tom Farrell in Charlotte, NC. The second time was when the Pettit administration, at the University’s expense, invited key leaders of the FBFI to come to the campus of BJU to discuss their concerns with BJU. The third occasion was when Dr. Pettit was peppered with questions of concern by FBFI board members when he was speaking at an FBFI National Meeting in Denver, Colorado. And, the final, culminating FBFI interaction, which proved to be the fatal one, was the FBFI letter from February 15, 2022.

This first negative interaction with the FBFI as president of BJU was initiated by an invitation from Dr. Pettit’s close friend, the late Dr. Tom Farrell, to fly to Charlotte, NC, on March 24, 2017, to speak with some men about their concerns with the direction of the University. Dr. Pettit was surprised when he arrived and there were over 40 men, including members and leaders of the FBFI. Along with Dr. Pettit, participants from BJU included Vice President, Dr. Sam Horn, and BJU Board Vice-President, Hantz Bernard.

When they arrived at the conference room at a hotel near the airport that Dr. Farrell had rented, they received a collated document of questions and grievances that had been pre-submitted to Dr. Farrell. Tom put the inquiries and complaints into a document, 12-point font, and the document was 63 pages in length. Two lecterns were set at the front, one for Tom Farrell and the other for Steve Pettit.

The questions, proctored by Tom, lasted for over 3 hours. Hantz Bernard took minutes of the meeting and categorized the questions into five major categories:

(1) Separation: Conferences Pettit had attended, and invited Ken Ham to speak for the Bible Conference.

(2) Music: The concerned alumni believe that the school is abandoning the traditional stand, teaching, and use of conservative music style and association. They believe that the faculty is feuding over the right philosophy of music.

(3) Reformed Theology: The concerned alumni referred to the speakers at Bible Conference 2016, some conferences the President has attended, and the lack of traditional friends of BJU as speakers; they talked about teachers in classrooms who are promoting Reformed Theology. They also lamented what they judged to be a malicious disregard of the KJV, etc.

(4) Standards: The concerned alumni talked about modesty in dress standards, especially for females wearing tight jeans and shorter skirts than what the expected norms would have been, about the modesty of uniforms for female athletes, and about discipline in general.

(5) Administration: The concerned thought that the management of the school was lax, that the influential managers are former Northland C-level people, and that the school was following the trajectory of Northland.

BJU Board Vice-Chairman, Hantz Bernard, gave this summary following the meeting:

“The President remained himself and answered well. The examples given by the participants to support their concerns were, for the most part, out of a lack of information and out of misguided perceptions. The participants were very passionate and convinced about the merit of their concerns. Those concerns seem to have enough legitimacy to warrant the attention of the Board. Hence, does it behoove the Board to intentionally evaluate the five areas of concern and see whether any or what improvement must be implemented? If out of potential financial solvency risks, the Board ordered a budgetary correction, it seems to me that the concerns here stated are nearly of the same significance and might need an intentional, strategic evaluation to ensure the philosophical and administrative viability of the University going forward.”

Respectfully submitted to the Chairman of the BJU Board, Dr. John Lewis, on April 11, 2017

By P. Hantz Bernard, Vice-Chairman

Next BJU Papers: Invitation for FBFI Leaders to visit BJU, Composition of Associations, Church Attendance, SBC White Papers, and the FBFI Denver Confrontation.