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A BJA Profile -
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In 1925, Ethel McCowan was born into a Christian family in Anderson, South Carolina. Her father, who had studied civil engineering at Clemson University, worked with his four sons to build a tennis court in a pasture on their farm. Ethel began playing tennis at the age of ten.
She trusted the Lord during an evangelistic service when she was fourteen. At that time in Anderson, the high schools were separated by gender (1923–62). Ethel graduated from Anderson Girls High School in 1944, having taken “commercial courses” such as typing, shorthand, and bookkeeping. Unsure about attending college, she decided instead to enroll in a two-year secretarial program at Atlanta Business University. Shortly after enrolling, she was recommended for a position as a secretary with Linde Air Products while she continued her studies. While living in Atlanta, she stayed with a Christian family and began to sense that she might be called to the mission field. The family encouraged her to attend BJU. The first year BJU was in Greenville, Ethel enrolled as a Bible major. During her college career, she took education courses and began to feel that God was calling her to the classroom. She completed her student teaching in 1951, while BJA classes were still meeting in the Alumni Building. After graduation Ethel spent the summer as a BJU secretary. She recalls taking dictation from Jones Sr. and typing his letters.. On Sundays she worked at the University switch board. As Ethel graduated, the Academy’s secretary left for the mission field, and Ethel was asked to take her place. When the Academy’s Quadrangle building first opened, Ethel moved in as BJA’s secretary.
Toward the end of her first year in that role, Ethel told Lillian Brown, the BJA principal, that she planned to leave in search of a teaching position. Lillian responded by offering her a section of freshman English for the following year. Although she remained responsible for all the Academy’s secretarial duties, Ethel loved teaching. Over the next few years, her teaching responsibilities grew as her secretarial workload gradually decreased. |
Ethel as the Academy Secretary 1952
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Ethel McCown's Teaching
Over the years, Ethel taught all the English courses offered at BJA. Eventually, she became the primary instructor for Junior English, the course infamous for its dreaded “research paper.” Her classes would occasionally meet in the Mack Library, where she explained the Dewey Decimal System and how to use the card catalog. Students were introduced to the library’s encyclopedias, catalogs, and dictionaries. After learning how to construct a paragraph, introduce and state a thesis, footnote references, compile a bibliography, and write a closing statement, students would complete their research paper and submit it—on time!
Late Work - Ethel McCown did not accept late work. This policy was to help develop character in her students. When a student attempted to submit a late assignment saying "Better late than never," Ethel would respond with her signature phrase, "Better never late."
When the papers came in Ethel’s real work began. Grading nearly 100 research papers while continuing to teach was demanding. |
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In 1964, Gene Fisher, BJA’s first guidance counselor, became principal, and Ethel assumed the role of guidance counselor. She continued to teach a full load while serving in that position until 1967. During her tenure at BJA, Ethel also served as senior class sponsor and helped organize Junior-Senior Banquets and graduation activities. Additionally, she assisted in preparing high school English materials for BJU Press.
Ethel’s summers were filled with ministry and travel. For three summers, she joined several BJU faculty on mission trips to rural areas of Hawaii. When Ken Hay—a former BJA physical education teacher—founded The Wilds, he turned to BJA colleagues to help establish the camp. Ethel, along with two other BJA faculty members, served as lead female counselors during the first three summers of the camp’s existence.
On a trip to the Holy Land under the direction of a young Bob Jones III, she recalled a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee with Jones, III water-skiing behind the boat. She also gave a devotional to a group of ladies in Brazil, with a former student serving as her interpreter. In Mexico, she helped at a Bible school and learned Spanish from the preschool children of the families she was ministering to. |
Ethel served as a lead female counselor as the Wilds opened.
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The 1982 Academian was dedicated to Ethel McCown.
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In 1985, Ethel left BJA. She was sorry to leave the classroom but felt liberated from the endless grading of papers. Although she missed getting to know students personally, she enjoyed her 14 years as a reference librarian at the Mack Library. She began her work the same year the card catalog was converted to computerized databases. Initially, much of her job involved teaching students how to use computer programs to locate books. Her primary responsibility, however, was helping people find answers—a daunting task in the days before digital search engines and artificial intelligence. It required a deep familiarity with various reference sources and how to access them, a task for which her teaching experience had ideally prepared her.
Ethel retired in 1998, but she continued to play tennis until the age of 74. She explained that she finally gave up the sport because she could no longer find anyone willing to play against her. In 2019, at the age of 93, Ethel passed into the presence of her Savior. |
