#jonny gamet

[wutbju]

Friend of the Archive, Jonny Gamet, pipes up with a little nudge:

One of the primary motivators for today's parents and students is how their substantial investment in a college degree will pay off in a career or a job. People are already questioning the value of the traditional four-year educational model and when colleges tout categories mentioned in this article above or in some cases in place of expected results, it's no wonder their customer base turns to other educational options that are in some cases cheaper, more convenient, or have a better track record of yielding expected results. Putting it bluntly, if a student can't land a job after graduation, they likely are going to blame the institution and not care much about how that college taught them how to think (or other benefits that helped shape them).

He's not wrong. You gotta get a job! He's right.

And Gary misses the point slightly. He thinks its about marketing BJU's "outcomes."

[wutbju]

Gary Weier's LinkedIn post got much affirmation from his fellows. Retired Pastor Brad Lapiska agrees (of course) and states:

Making good citizens is subjective, particularly when all standards of citizenship are relative and can't offend any student. A Christian University ought to distinguish itself by helping a student nail down his or her world view (Biblical) as a basis for living a successful life and to teach them apologetics in a way that they can succeed in their careers out in the world without isolating themselves from the people they work and live with.

So "apologetics" is the way for a Christian to succeed in their careers rather than isolate themselves from their neighbors?

Apologetics was the big trend in the 1980s when Evangelicals -- and BJU too -- went nuts for defending their ideology. Francis Schaeffer's How Should We Then Live? was the loudest iteration. Ken Ham is still banging that drum.

Have you ever had a conversation with a person trained in conservative evangelical apologetics? They are insufferable.

[wutbju]

Gary Weier doesn't let Beau Baez's pointed (and perhaps unwitting) critique of faculty wages bother him.

Our culture undervalues thinking as work, and we're paying the price! But there isn't an easy answer to create a financially viable model since education is seen increasingly as credentialing.

[wutbju]

Liberty Graduate and current Assistant Professor of Law, Beau Baez pipes up and ... well, you'll see it.

A university needs faculty that can inculcate critical thinking into the classroom. This means lighter teaching loads so faculty can assess students using essay exams, not short-answer and multiple choice. But how to do this without breaking a university's budget?

There's an idea! Pay BJU's faculty a living wage!

[wutbju]

Aw. We like you too, Jonny Gamet!

[wutbju]

One alumnus in the General thread gets it. One. He is also a reader of WutBJU, btw. But he hits the nail on the head:

I’m not going to opine on whether bluegrass is godly or sinful or stirs your loins inappropriately. The problem for BJU is that it deeply harped - rightly or wrongly, depending on your particular “camp” - on music genres, or dress, or race, etc. That turned off a lot of kids and parents. When times were good and the bodies kept flowing in enrollment, all was well. But now, as times and changed and enrollment - particularly LEGACY enrollment has dried up - we see a shifting. Sure it may be a sign of um...more charitable times. But we all know what it is - a extremely late attempt to win bodies back. If you harp on music for 80 years, some blowback is to be expected if you suddenly shift, even slightly (such as bluegrass). I graduated in 2000 and I can count on 2 hands only the grads who would send their kids back to BJU. A whole generation has literally been lost, and will deeply affect enrollment in the years ahead, if we even make it that long, sadly.

Yup. For years they preached and harped and ranted and shamed. For years. And then POOF! when enrollment got bad, the “standards” were swept away.

The rest of the “General Alumni” fail to see Mr. Anderson’s lucid point. Jonny Gamet, a BJU Public Relations employee, even snarks it up, proving how BJU really does win friends and influence people. 

There is a lot of information in there. 

First of all, Mr. Gamet, knock it off. Mrs. Roberts is a former BJU employee! Here from the 1973 yearbook when she taught Speech.

Quit being a mansplaining jerk to her. A few other tidbits:

Southern Baptist Churches are not automatically approved.

Bluegrass is okay for informal events.

The ‘now’ BJU is different than the old one and it doesn’t care what you think.

“African believers enthusiastically worship the Lord in song.”

Yes, the ‘now’ BJU cares as much for female former members -- especially from the Speech Faculty -- as it always has.