SC Christian university president resigns, cites problems with governing board

The president of Bob Jones University has resigned amid long-simmering disagreements with the chairman of the board and grandson of the university’s founder over the discretion of the fundamentalist Christian school in Greenville.

Steve Pettit was named president in 2014, the first non-Jones family member to hold the job since the school was founded by Bob Jones Sr. in 1927. He was succeeded by Bob Jones Jr., Bob Jones III and then his great-grandson, Stephen Jones. Bob Jones IV elected not to work at the school.

In a four-page letter to the board, Pettit said board chair John Lewis had created disunity on the board, held a meeting without telling staff and was not taking seriously a comment made by a board member that “female students’ clothing and female student athlete uniforms accentuate their ‘boobs and butts.’”

Pettit said he had heard the board member took photos of women without their permission.

He said he did not know if the information was true, but by law should have been turned over to the Title IX coordinator for investigation.

University chief of staff Randy Page said in an emailed statement to The State, “Bob Jones University takes seriously its obligations under Title IX as it relates to all students, faculty, staff and volunteers. Our Title IX Coordinator follows university policies and Title IX regulations to analyze any complaint, and, if necessary, conduct an investigation. “

He said complaints are confidential “to the extent required by law and our policies.”

Pettit also said in his letter to the board he believed the board was not seeing and working on the school’s financial difficulties and declining enrollment.

The university on Thursday issued a statement on social media thanking Pettit “for his years of service and his love for students and the entire university community.”

They quoted only the first paragraph of the letter in which he said, “It has been one of the greatest privileges of my life to serve as the president of Bob Jones University. My memories of the wonderful people, the incredible student body, and the perpetual blessings of God will linger with me throughout the rest of my life. Whatever good has happened it is because of the blessings of God and the humble service of His devoted people.”

Pettit has worked to loosen some of the rules that have set Bob Jones apart from other universities, especially with regard to clothing and grooming.

The university for decades did not allow women to wear pants or men to have facial hair.

Pettit also worked to have the university accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission, an action long eschewed by the Joneses but started during the tenure of Stephen Jones. The previous leadership did not want to be ruled by an outside secular organization.

He also worked to have the university’s tax exemption reinstated after the IRS pulled it in 1976 because of the school’s discriminatory racial policies, namely that people of different ethnicity and race could not date or marry.

Bob Jones University was founded in Bay County, Florida, then moved to Cleveland, Tennessee, before arriving in Greenville in the mid-1940s. Bob Jones Sr. was an evangelist, who said he saw young people during his travels with a need for religious-based higher education.