In May of 2024, when Dr. Joshua Crockett was named sixth president of Bob Jones University, I welcomed that news with excited satisfaction that, as I had predicted, nay-sayers who seemed to be preparing an “obituary” for my alma mater would have to put to rest their eulogies. Many were prognosticating that BJU would not be around for its 100th anniversary in 2027.
On May 20, just a year after Dr. Crockett accepted the appointment as BJU president, the school’s board announced that Dr. Bruce McCallister would succeed him at the helm of the “World’s Most Unusual University.” I and many others greeted this surprising but not startling news with continued satisfaction. I have known Dr. Crockett and his family for many years—since his father, and then he, served as pastors of Grace Baptist Church in Anderson, Indiana—and I have had the utmost respect for him and the Crockett name. I knew that he would bring stability, integrity, and enthusiasm to Bob Jones University at a time when, frankly, it was at a low ebb. It received criticism from many alumni and others who had been in the BJU camp as friends, for years, but were disappointed—maybe disillusioned—at the board’s handling of the situation(s) that led to Dr. Steve Pettit’s resignation as president.
However, though I was satisfied and pleased with Dr. Crockett’s appointment, I knew that serving as pastor of a thriving church and president of a major Christian university, simultaneously, was a challenge that few men would be able to navigate. I believe my concerns proved valid, as within a year—and shortly before the BJU board announced Dr. McCallister as the seventh president—Dr. Crockett was already planning to modify his responsibilities at BJU and become what seemed to be a “campus” pastor, while at the same time retaining the title “president.” Wisely, the board realized that the university needed a full-time, fully functioning on-campus president. Thus, the May 20 announcement of the new president. Nothing detracting there from the ministry and well-meaning of Dr. Crockett for his desire to continue to be a pastor—his first love, doubtless—and his desire to serve Bob Jones University, a family that he dearly loved and served with enthusiasm, his service being warmly received by the BJU student body, faculty, and staff.
So, those who have been praying for and “rooting” for BJU are breathing a sigh of relief. Dr. McCallister has been in, on, or around the campus of BJU for half a century. The Georgia native is known for his pleasant demeanor, charming smile, and Southern gentility. He holds four degrees from Bob Jones and has served in multiple capacities over the years, leading the ministerial department and serving churches and pastors by one-day pastors’ meetings designed to encourage those in ministry. I personally have been blessed on more than one occasion when Dr. McCallister, usually with Dr. Bob Jones, III, would visit our area to conduct a one-day meeting to inform, inspire and encourage area-wide pastors.
No one would doubt, therefore, that Bob Jones University is headed—as it approaches its 100th anniversary—in the same direction that it has been pursuing since its founding by Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. It will continue to be a non-denominational, conservative, liberal arts university where students receive grounding in not only how to make a living but in how to make a life. I am thankful and proud to be a graduate of this fine educational fortress of the faith. And I am grateful to God for the education and the excellence that the university has been known for through the past century.
Dr. McCallister is impeccable in his credentials. He is loyal to the BJU creed and dedicated to the vision of the BJU board. And he has been—and will be—committed to the perpetuity of the principles and practices of Bob Jones. Alumni who have been concerned about the current or future direction of their alma mater can rest assured that there will continue to exist in the immediate future a school that is still sound, solid, superior in standards of both faith and practice.
Of course, Dr. McCallister is 70 years old, and thus it is a given that the BJU board will need to once again initiate a search for a president in the not-too-distant future. When I was 70, I felt fine and did not consider “retiring.” But when I was 77, I knew it was time to do so. And, looking back, I am glad that I did so when I did. Evidently Dr. McCallister is in excellent health. But his age going forward will be a factor. It’s just a reality that all must deal with—the clock keeps ticking and age will eventually win.
But for now, praise God that there has been good news out of Greenville! Congratulations, Dr. McCallister! Congratulations, BJU Board and University faculty, staff and student body! Many of us out here in “hinterland” could not be happier for how God has shown His good hand of guidance through all of the recent choppy waters.
So very many Bible colleges and/or Christian universities have “gone under” the past couple of decades that it has been alarming and difficult to cope with. The blame cannot be assigned solely to the institutions. We live in a world that is changing at a breathtaking pace. It is a materialistic morass. Schools that were founded as bastions of belief have been hit hard by the current secularism that permeates once sound-in-the-faith local churches, from whence these educational institutions have historically received their student bodies.
Let us reaffirm our commitment to pray for BJU and other colleges and universities committed to holding the line on the “faith once delivered to the saints.” Let us pray for BJU, its new president, its board, its faculty and staff, and its student body as preparations are being made—with excitement—for the soon approaching start of a new academic year.
“For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to Whom be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36)
YOU and GOD 