Read this letter and try to guess what Chuck’s crime might have been…
If you guessed “driving an 18 year old fellow-student to the bus station so he could flee this Fundy U and go live with his brother (since the only reason that he was Fundy U to start with was that he was being force by threats of violence from his parents to attend)” then you’re right on the money.
Chuck, you’re a hero in my book. Well done.
If you’ve ever been a very naughty boy or girl on the campus of Bob Jones University you may have received something like this…
It’s funny how this sort of thing never made it into their promotional materials.
Update:
Since a lot of folks are asking how one accumulates 100 demerits, here’s a handy chart taken from the 2010-11 Student Handbook(You can click on the link to see all the details of the offenses and student life rules in general)
This notion of a Biblical mandate for Christian school is hardly unique to fundamentalists but the idea of the necessity of alternative Christian education is so inseparable from the fundy culture that it’s worth noting here anyway. To demonstrate the point here’s an excerpt from Dr. Charles Walker in a pamphlet entitled “Is Christian Education A Biblical Mandate?”
Whenever I happen to reminisce with people about days gone by at fundy schools, one common theme almost inevitably emerges: there were some teachers who were pretty awesome people. It is a paradox that in the midst of such oppressive rules and sloppy scholarship that there are a handful of teachers who are both decent human beings as well as accomplished in their field. And often times it was that one English professor or Computer Science teacher or choir director who helped make life just bearable enough to survive through one more semester or one more year.
It’s not as if the teachers themselves have a particularly easy time dealing with the administrations of their schools either. The hallmark of teachers in fundyland is that they are paid a pittance and then assigned constant menial labor in addition to their actual teaching duties. Then they are generally disrespected and belittled at every turn. Yet, somehow, a few still manage to maintain a shred of humanity and goodwill and do their best to minister to the students that they teach.
So let’s hear it for the few good eggs that manage to bring a little cheer and comfort to the hearts of fundy students who are on the brink of despair. Let’s give our thanks for kind words, encouraging smiles, good humor and overlooked faults. And let us send our best wishes that they soon find employment in other places where they will truly be appreciated and rewarded for their efforts.