BJU plans to take a Spring Break

Back in the old days when I was at BJU I was one of those students whose home was more than a couple of tanks of gas away from Greenville. The only way I managed to get home for Christmas was by packing a car full of students, sharing the cost of gas, and driving 20 plus hours one way. In the winter it was an adventure. An airplane ticket was in none of our budgets. My general impression is that the students in today’s smaller student body are not as geographically scattered and are a bit more affluent that in those days.

Can someone start posting the daily breakfast menu at BJU?  :)

Well, I am not going to deny that for pure comic relief, I have watched the FB post from BJU about this today where people are accusing the university of turning its back on the Bible. It is absurd. They probably go to church 3x a week, have devotions every night and chapel most days but yet they need a Bible conference too.

But in the end of the day, seriously, why should this be news or of any interest to anyone except their students, few as they be? (Except of course for the comedy side of it.)

We interrupt this exciting conversation about BJU and their momentous decision to allow a Spring Break to let you know that …

• Maranatha Baptist University is having a music and drama camp from 13-17 July. Sign up now!

• Not only that, did you know that the dorms at Faith Baptist Bible College feature “two students per room, four students per restroom, and yet 50 students living together on the same floor!” It’s true. Don’t take my word for it; check it out for yourself!
• Coming soon - an exclusive analysis on the merits of the mashed potatoes in the cafeteria at BJU. Stay tuned …

Like GregH, I watched the discussion of this on the FB pages and chuckled along with him. (Humorous comment to follow.)There may be a few who look at the addition of a spring break as another example of departing from the faith; along with allowing cuts at Thanksgiving, guys with no ties, girls with no hose, pants on women,Getty hymns, loitering couples, and MacArthur books in the bookstore. (Humorous comment is over.) There are some who look at the shortening of Bible Conference as a sign of falling away. (I heard the same thing when they went from four to three services a day.) Personally, I liked Bible Conference as it was my first and only exposure to preaching from outside my own small world. Today, access to great preaching is much more available and that may have created a more discerning audience.

I see MBU is also having “Stage Crew” camp. Now I’ve heard of everything.

BJU & Spring Break, good call on their part.

….are most of the students going to Daytona Beach? :^) Sorry, just couldn’t resist.

Seriously, though, this might be a lot bigger than it seems, because what it means is that administration is recognizing that the school can be a pressure cooker from which kids need a time to decompress. Just hopefully not at Daytona Beach.

I think there is an argument that we are over-conferenced in our time. A spring break is a good thing. Could of used a few of those during my six years at BJU. Glad to see the students are going to get one.

It would not surprise me to see a number of students go on a missions trip during this break and this is good.

Attention BJU students, if any of you want to come up to Albany on your Spring break next year, we will house and feed you, give you some ministry opportunities in America’ 13th most unreached metro area, show you one of the most advanced nano-tech research facilities on the planet, and have a few parties just because it’s spring break. Message me if you are interested.

And I forgot to say

BOOYEAH!

:)

I post very little on this site but this one interests me (BJU class of ‘82). Some related comments pontificate that “the school is going to let them …..on spring break.” Excuse me, but has every parent of a BJU student abdicated their parental responsibility to BJU. How about THE PARENT (yes, I’m shouting) be involved in the decision. If your (their) kid goes off to Daytona or Galveston who’s issue is that? BJU or the parent? I think everyone knows the answer.

[ejohansen]

I post very little on this site but this one interests me (BJU class of ‘82). Some related comments pontificate that “the school is going to let them …..on spring break.” Excuse me, but has every parent of a BJU student abdicated their parental responsibility to BJU. How about THE PARENT (yes, I’m shouting) be involved in the decision. If your (their) kid goes off to Daytona or Galveston who’s issue is that? BJU or the parent? I think everyone knows the answer.

I agree that this is not the problem of the school. As a parent of two college kids, who I want to learn to make their own right decisions, I haven’t been telling my kids what they must do for summer or for breaks. However, they do understand that except for their school bills, they are solely responsible for figuring out their other expenses (both during the year and during times off) and how to meet those obligations. I wouldn’t be happy if they chose to go off to Daytona Beach for spring break, both from the standpoint of testimony and to a lesser extent, how much it would be a waste of money, but I now consider them old enough to have to put their faith into practice with no training wheels, and I want to see if they will do what’s right. Now that they are 19 and 21, I’m in a different phase of parenthood than when they were minors.

Unlike some, at college level, I don’t expect the school to act “in loco parentis.” I want them to get continued good training about how to live, but they are no longer 5 year olds. IMHO, if parents haven’t taught their kids to take on adult responsibilities *before* they go away to college, then they have already neglected their parental duties, and they can’t expect a school to fix that by doing what was appropriate when they were still minors.

My “Daytona Beach” comment was intended as a wisecrack joking about how uncomfortable BJU students (and I) would feel in such a party scene. I did not mean it as a real comment about the subject.

But, that said, I’d have to guess that many schools—I don’t know if BJU remains among them—in the fundamental orbit would issue demerits if they found out such a thing, and if their constituency wants them to work “in loco parentis”, I’ve got no real objection—except that it could result in parents becoming lax.

I grew up at BJU. Before hearing this announcement, I was remarking to an Anglican friend that growing up at an educational environment with no spring break around Easter seemed to de-emphasize the holiday as a family time (completely understanding that there is the Living Gallery at BJU that serves to emphasize the season). It wouldn’t occur to me until a few years ago that families travel to see each other for Easter. To me it was merely a special Sunday in the calendar. I think a Spring Break would allow families to continue Easter traditions they have been used to by school spring breaks in other school systems around Easter for a long time. Just like the Thanksgiving Break is a welcome time of decompression in the 1st Semester, I could see that a Spring Break would do that in Second Semester where Bible Conference simply isn’t a time of rest (and was even less so when there were more services per day).

Some treat every day alike, while others observe new moons and Sabbaths. Love one another. Romans 14.