Clemson, Furman, and many other education institutions, are named for men involved with their founding.  In 1926, as our school was about to be incorporated, it needed a name.  Bob Jones, Sr. proposed several names to the board.  The board insisted that it be called Bob Jones College. 

Why?  They said that anyone hearing the name “Bob Jones” would immediately know what the school stood for.  Eventually our founder acquiesced. 

Bob Jones, Sr. started preaching at age 13.  During high school he pastored a circuit of 5 Methodist churches.  During those two years, 400 people professed salvation.  While in college, people flocked to hear him preach in different churches on weekends.  During the summers, he conducted several weeklong evangelistic campaigns.

In his early 20s, he conducted citywide evangelistic campaigns throughout the South.  These campaigns lasted from three to twelve weeks, with thousands attending services in large wooden tabernacles.  Between 1917 and 1930, it is estimated he preached to over 15 million people.  

The Young Evangelist

Having the school named Bob Jones College was not designed simply to honor him.  The name was chosen to tell people what the school stood for.  It identified the school with the same biblical convictions that Bob Jones, Sr. had so clearly, enthusiastically, and widely proclaimed. 

Today the name Bob Jones may no longer directly speak to most people about the man himself, but it still speaks about the stand for biblical truth that the founder preached and that the school has proclaimed ever since.

Furman, Clemson, and most 100-year-old educational institutions bearing a person’s name cannot, and many dare not, make such a claim.

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Bob Jones, Sr.

What Means These Stones?

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