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BJA Student Life in Tennessee
1933-1947 As BJA arrived in Tennessee, the most notable student body change was the lack of cadets. The military department was dropped. Preparatory Department was no longer used to describe the school. Officially, it was The Bob Jones College Academy, but Bob Jones Academy was frequently used. On campus it was the Academy, and its students were beginning to be called Acads. Growing is probably the best way to describe BJA’s Tennessee experience. In the 14 years that it was in Cleveland, enrollment grew from near 50 to over 300. The faculty went from 7, several of whom were college faculty and taught only one high school class, to about 15, most of whom taught only high school classes. |
- Academics
- Dormatory Life - Societies and Athletics - Other Organizations - Fine Arts - Commencement Activities |
Academics
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The number of different classes offered in the Academy changed only slightly in Cleveland, but the number of classes climbed dramatically. For the first 10 years in Cleveland, single sections of a class with 10 or fewer students were all that was required. When enrollment reached 200, 2 or 3 sections of required classes with 20+ students in each section were needed.
To award valid high school diplomas, the Tennessee Board of Education required detailed reports of class size, length of classes, teacher qualifications, the number of classes a teacher taught per day, and the amount of window space compared to floor space in classrooms. The Board of Education also reviewed the academic records of each member of the senior class. Irregularities that should deprive a senior of a diploma were pointed out. Students who transferred from states or foreign countries which did not conform to Tennessee’s academic procedures resulted in letters between the principal and the Board of Education to reconcile differences. After many letters, the entire 1934 senior class received diplomas. Many private schools of the time were academic shams. For various reasons high grades were given to students who did not deserve them. Jones, Sr. insisted that BJC and BJA grades be earned. Frequently, he and Academy principal, Eunice Hutto, told the faculty to hold the academic bar high and that there should not be “an abundance of high grades.” |
Enrollment and Graduates Students Graduates 1933-34 56 7 1934-35 52 12 1935-36 56 4 1936-37 82 11 1937-38 65 17 1938-39 61 17 1939-40 76 14 1940-41 64 12 1941-42 85 22 1942-43 97 19 1943-44 249 67 1944-45 279 73 1945-46 311 100 1946-47 216 100 |
The application form served for both BJA and BJC.
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Originally in Cleveland, BJA's academic information fit on a single page of the College Bulletin. Courses and graduation requirements were basically the same as in Florida.
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By 1946, the Academy had a faculty of 15 and enough academic policies and differences from BJC to warrant several pages in the Bulletin. The course requirements paralleled those of the Tennessee Board of Education, and several elective courses were offered. Sixteen units were required for graduation.
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The Academy Archives of this period contains detailed analysis of the midterm and final grades given by individual teachers for each of their classes. This data was laboriously compiled and calculated by hand. When the school was small, the results fit on a single sheet of paper. For the last few years in Cleveland, the results were recorded on taped-together sheets of paper, forming 3ft x 4ft charts. At the mid-semester grading period, it was not uncommon for some BJA teachers to have classes with no A’s and 20 percent failures. By the end of the semester, the ratios were considerably better, in the students’ favor, but there were still few A’s and almost always some failures.
Report on Distribution of Grades, First Nine Weeks, 1943-44
Department A B C D E F . Academy 15% 27% 32% 16% 3% 7% College 15% 40% 33% 8% 2% 2% Figure out the percentage of grades of each kind which you gave and compare it with this. To unify academic standards and ensure that teachers were not giving “an abundance of high grades,” the information about overall school grading (above) was distributed during faculty meetings. A teacher who was out of line could expect to have a meeting with the Dean or the Principal. Toward the end of the Cleveland era, lists of students earning an overall A and B academic record were posted on bulletin boards. Dormitory students with an A or B academic average were excused from the supervised, two-and-a-half-hour, four-days-per-week evening study hall. Of the 250 Academy students, 1 or 2 would make the A average and about 25 would make the B list. With only 10 percent of the student body earning grade averages above C, Academy teachers were heeding the admonition not to hand out “an abundance of high grades.”
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Boys’ evening study hall was held on the lower floor of their dormitory.
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Dormitory Life
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In Cleveland, dormitory students made up 90-95 percent of the Academy student body. Male and female students were housed in separate buildings. In those buildings, BJA students were grouped so they could be supervised as a unit.
The main rules for both the College and the Academy were the same. In 1933, there were 16 posted BJC rules. They included: · Griping and hazing would not be tolerated. · The use of tobacco, drinking alcohol, profanity, obscenity, dancing, gambling, card playing and throwing dice was prohibited. · Attending classes, chapel, meals, and other events was required. · Procedures for leaving campus were described. · When together, couples required a chaperone. · “High class music” was encouraged but those who “insist on inflicting any other type of music on the institution will be dealt with by the faculty committee.” · Policies about destruction of school property, no “communications through windows of dormitories,” visiting local homes, etc. were enumerated. Breeches of rules resulted in meeting the Discipline Committee, a group of administration, faculty, and students. They would post the requisite demerits on the student’s record or adjust the demerit penalty based on circumstances. 150 demerits in a semester resulted in automatic expulsion (aka “being shipped”). 
This card was posted on the back of the door in all dormitory rooms.
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“It was my privilege and honor the year after I graduated from Bob Jones College . . . to play a part in supervising the young men who were in Bob Jones Academy. We were in one area of Bachelor Hall Dormitory. There we had our individual prayer meetings and discussions pertaining to the activities of the Academy. We had approximately 50 young men who were enrolled. They came from various types of homes, some of whom had no Christian background. It was our responsibility to maintain the discipline, the spiritual temperature, to help them in their athletic activities, and to encourage them to get out as much as possible with the college men to participate in Christian activities." — Gilbert Stenholm 
A men's dormitory room in Cleveland.
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Societies and Athletics
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Academy students were members of college literary societies. Societies met on Saturday mornings and sponsored various social functions. Students fondly remember formal society dinners, elaborate parties, and outings to Chickamauga Dam and other places.
Intramural sports between societies began as the school opened in Tennessee. For the first few years, football was played, but injuries caused the school to switch to soccer. With only 2 societies of each gender, the competitions were limited, but the College/Academy enrollments permitted high school students to make the teams as they had in Florida |
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The Junior Society Experiment
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By 1944, societies averaged over 60 College and about 20 BJA members. High school students were not needed to fill athletic or other positions. In the 1945-46 school year, the school attempted to solve the lack-of-BJA-opportunities problem by creating “Junior Societies.” They met with their respective College society and participated in their functions. Other than having their photo taken for the Vintage, there are no records of Junior Society activities, and BJA students of the period remember no separate activities. While Junior Societies may have eventually solved BJA’s low-participation problem, the program was dropped after one year. At that time the school had other major concerns to deal with, like moving to a new campus.
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By 1940, however, there were 8 societies with about 60 members each. If the BJA students were evenly distributed, each society would have 8 high school students. While an Academy student could make a team, the chance of it happening was far below what it had previously been.
By 1945, there were 10 societies (6 for women and 4 for men), and they were engaging in soccer, basketball, volleyball, baseball, track and field, swimming, archery, tennis, and other “minor sports.” By this time there is no evidence that high school students were involved in society sports. |
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A 1939 Vintage photo shows the only known Academy sports team in Tennessee. There are no records of who they played. The caption indicates other sports were “engaged in” at the Academy.
Students of the Tennessee era recall “pickup games” between different BJA groups (dormitory floors, classes, etc.), often played after the evening study hall or on Saturday. |
Other Organizations
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The Epworth League, Baptist Student Union, Life Service Band, Christian Endeavour, and other groups that were popular in Florida continued to exist, but in Cleveland, the percentage of enrollment involved in such groups dropped. By the mid-1940s, only Mission Prayer Band, Life Service Band, and Child Evangelism Club remained. There is no indication that Academy students were involved in these organizations.
In Cleveland, both Academy and College students attended the same Student Body meetings. BJA students participated in some programs, and a few Academy students were involved in preparing the programs. The Cleveland Vintages often picture Academy Officers, an Academy Council or Academy Student Body Officers. (The group’s name, and the number and names of the offices changed frequently.) They are often pictured with the principal. There are no records of their responsibilities. |
1939 Vintage featured the Academy Council and Class Presidents
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During the later Cleveland era, there are slates of high school class officers. It is assumed they would be involved in organizing class parties, but there are no records of class meetings or other activities they were responsible for.
The exception: Junior-Senior Banquets. The first known Junior-Senior Banquet was held in May 1940. Details about it were a lead story in The Conqueror, a short-lived BJC student newspaper. The event was held in Margaret Mack Auditorium’s Rehearsal Hall. It was decorated in black and red with red tulips (the senior class colors and flower). Welcome and thank you speeches by class officers and musical numbers were on the program. There was a reading of the class history, will, and prophecy. Jones, Sr. gave an “inspirational address” and closed in prayer. In 1940, the Academy graduated 14 seniors. Adding the junior class and a few dates, the first Junior-Senior Banquet probably had about 35 students and a few administration and faculty chaperones. Future banquets were often held in the dining common, and various awards were presented to seniors as part of the event. It is assumed class histories, wills, and prophecies were read, and the Academy Archives has copies of some of these. Beyond that, nothing is known of the programs.
Some Junior-Senior Banquet invitations were simple hand-written notes; others were printed on BJC note cards. They were delivered by Junior Class officers, dressed in formal attire, during a dining common meal. In the Academy Archives are lists of students to be invited to the banquets. Only graduating seniors and full time members of the Junior Class were to attend. The influx of WWII veterans to the senior class, but not graduating from the Academy, complicated the compiling of banquet guest lists.
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Class Rings were first ordered in 1938. Four young lady’s rings (@$9.40 each) and one young man’s ring (@$11.40) were ordered from Spartan Jewelers, Inc. of Buffalo, NY. A $2.00 deposit was required when ordering a ring. |
Fine Arts
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Like in Florida, there were no performing classes. Students could take classes in speech or music theory; lessons in vocal training and musical instruments were also available. But no permanent Academy band, choir or other performing group existed. If a BJA ensemble was needed for a program, students would volunteer (or be conscripted), be coached by a faculty member, perform, and then the group would dissolve.
As early as 1940, BJA participated in various fine arts competitions. Some participated in state and regional vocal and instrumental solo competitions. Others participated in declamation and debate contests at the University of Tennessee’s High School Day. Many of these participants earned awards, which were often announced in chapel or presented at graduation. BJA Students Involved in College Activities - Information about student involvement in school-sponsored activities was requested in the annual reports sent to the Tennessee Board of Education. BJA listed that the entire student body was involved in 36 society and student body meetings each year. The high school participation in these meetings, however, was minimal. No other school-sponsored high school student activities were listed. |
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Locator Cards were the first printed Academy form. During registration BJA teachers or administrators met with individual students and assigned them to the various classes. Students left this meeting with their class schedule and the school had a list of students that were enrolled for each class. However, knowing an individual student’s schedule could not be easily ascertained from those lists. Students, therefore, were asked to fill out a locator card before they were finished registering. The cards were kept in the Academy Office and were used when a student needed to be contacted.
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Commencement Activities
In Cleveland, the BJA and BJC’s commencement activities were almost a week long. There was a Literary Society Day, Class Day, Baccalaureate Day, Fine Arts Day, and the like. There were teas to honor faculty and commencement guests and a faculty breakfast to honor the graduating class. There was a track meet and extemporaneous essay, debate, and sermon contests. Multiple programs featured the final rounds of College fine arts competitions. The Classic Players produced a play, and musical groups produced a Commencement Concert, sometimes including a short opera. Most commencement events were required of all College and Academy students. Although classes were over, no one could leave Cleveland until both the Academy and the College diplomas were awarded, and that was the last event to happen. During commencement activities the entire College family attended the High School Class Day (or Night) Program in the auditorium. In early Class Day Programs, there were no valedictory or salutatory addresses and no testimonies from senior class members. Students recited speeches or poems. Solo or ensemble musical numbers were performed. Occasionally, a choir participated. The program generally ended with a one-act play, often featuring the entire senior class in the cast. The program was more of a fine arts program than a graduation event. Academy seniors marched in the College Convocation and received their diplomas and awards then. In 1945, significant growth in BJA and BJC graduating classes resulted in BJA graduates receiving their diplomas in a separate ceremony. It was still called the Class Day Program but valedictory and salutatory addresses and senior testimonies were added. The play and most of the lighter aspects of previous programs were omitted. The graduates wore regalia and processed into and recessed out of the building. No BJA awards were given. They were part of BJC’s graduation ceremony, held a day or two later. |
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Dark blue letters on the black cover state:
Bob Jones College Academy Class Day
Margaret Mack Auditorium
May 19, 1945
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The first BJA commencement program was a blending of the fine arts class day program and a graduation ceremony.
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For information about Bob Jones College/University see:
· Fortress of Faith: The Story of Bob Jones University. Melton Wright · Standing Without Apology: The History of Bob Jones University. Daniel L. Turner · Bob Jones University—50 Years Under God. Margaret Beall Tice · Reflecting God's Light—Facets of a Miracle. Daniel L. Turner · The Campus History Series: Bob Jones University. Bob A. Nestor |
