If you thought Bob Jones University was....check ut this school

Parent Cafe
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<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=15****&highlight=Pensacola+Christian+College[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=15****&highlight=Pensacola+Christian+College&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Pensacola Christian University</p>

<p>I will hijack the thread cause its just too good to miss:</p>

<p><a href=“http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i29/29a04001.htm[/url]”>http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i29/29a04001.htm&lt;/a&gt;)</p>

<p>The campus looks just like the glossy brochure: clean, green, and beautiful. The students are well dressed and well groomed, not a pair of jeans or scrappy goatee in sight. Inside the Commons building, two students engage in a spirited game of Ping-Pong. When one of them misses an easy shot, he cries, “Praise the Lord!”</p>

<p>Pensacola Christian College prides itself on being different, not just from secular colleges, but from fellow Christian ones, too. Some of those differences, like the way students dress, are obvious to any visitor. Others are not. Since its founding, more than 30 years ago, Pensacola has blossomed from a tiny Bible college into a thriving institution of nearly 5,000 students. Along the way it has become known as among the most conservative — and most secretive — colleges in the country.</p>

<p>Not to mention one of the strictest. The rules at Pensacola govern every aspect of students’ lives, including the books they read, the shoes they wear, the churches they attend, and the people they date. Many of those regulations are spelled out in a handbook sent to students after they enroll, but there are plenty of unwritten rules as well. Demerits are common and discipline swift.</p>

<p>It’s all in the name of preserving Pensacola’s “distinctives” — the word the college uses for what sets it apart. But many former students say the enforcement of the rules is often cruel and capricious. Dissent is never tolerated, they say, and expulsions for seemingly minor infractions are routine.</p>

<p>They also complain that Pensacola plays down (or never mentions) an important fact: It is not accredited. For many students, that lack of accreditation has not been a problem; for some, however, it has meant starting college over elsewhere or being rejected by employers.</p>

<p>In keeping with its distrust of outsiders, Pensacola’s administration declined repeatedly to comment for this article. A spokesman says college officials “don’t want to stir up a hornet’s nest.” But as interviews with dozens of current and former students make clear, the buzzing has already begun.</p>

<p>The Rule Book</p>

<p>Lisa Morris was walking to class with her boyfriend last October when something happened. At first Ms. Morris, a sophomore music major, is reluctant to divulge the details. Eventually, however, the truth comes out: He patted her behind.</p>

<p>Someone who witnessed the incident reported Ms. Morris and her boyfriend. At Pensacola any physical contact between members of the opposite sex is forbidden. (Members of the same sex may touch, although the college condemns homosexuality.) The forbidden contact includes shaking hands and definitely includes patting behinds. Both students were expelled.</p>

<p>Of Pensacola’s many rules, those dealing with male-female relationships are the most talked about. There are restrictions on when and where men and women may speak to each other. Some elevators and stairwells may be used only by women; others may be used only by men. Socializing on particular benches is forbidden. If a man and a woman are walking to class, they may chat; if they stop en route, though, they may be in trouble. Generally men and women caught interacting in any “unchaperoned area” — which is most of the campus — could be subject to severe penalties.</p>

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<p>contL</p>

<p>Those rules extend beyond the campus. A man and a woman cannot go to an off-campus restaurant together without a chaperon (usually a faculty member). Even running into members of the opposite sex off campus can lead to punishment. One student told of how a group of men and a group of women from the college happened to meet at a McDonald’s last spring. Both groups were returning from the beach (they had gone to separate beaches; men and women are not allowed to be at the beach together). The administration found out, and all 15 students were expelled.</p>

<p>Even couples who are not talking or touching can be reprimanded. Sabrina Poirier, a student at Pensacola who withdrew in 1997, was disciplined for what is known on the campus as “optical intercourse” — staring too intently into the eyes of a member of the opposite sex. This is also referred to as “making eye babies.” While the rule does not appear in written form, most students interviewed for this article were familiar with the concept.</p>

<p>As she tells it, Ms. Poirier was not gazing lovingly at her boyfriend; he had something in his eye. But officials didn’t buy her explanation, and she and her boyfriend were both “socialed,” she says.</p>

<p>There are three levels of official punishment at Pensacola (four, if you count expulsion). Students can be “socialed,” “campused,” or “shadowed.” Students who are socialed are not allowed to talk to members of the opposite sex for two weeks. Those who are campused may not leave the college grounds for two weeks or speak to other campused students.</p>

<p>Being shadowed is the worst of the three. Shadowed students are assigned to a “floor leader” for several days. A floor leader is a student who is paid by the college and has the power to issue demerits. Shadowed students must attend the floor leader’s classes and sleep in the floor leader’s room. During this time, the shadowed student is not allowed to talk to anyone but the floor leader. Shadowing is usually a prelude to expulsion.</p>

<p>Ms. Poirier was later told she would be shadowed after being spotted riding in a car in mixed company. She tried to explain that it was an innocent outing, but to no avail. When told she would be shadowed, Ms. Poirier decided to withdraw. “I said ‘screw it’ and I left,” she says.</p>

<p>There are plenty of other ways to run afoul of the rules. Last spring Timothy Dow was caught playing the video game Halo 2. Such games are banned by the college. Movies are also forbidden, including those rated G. Music is restricted to classical or approved Christian (“contemporary Christian” artists are deemed too worldly). Students are allowed to watch television news at 6 o’clock, but that’s it. The TVs are controlled by college employees, who flip a switch to black out the commercials, lest students see anything inappropriate.</p>

<p>In the library, books and magazines are censored. One student says she saw a pair of black-marker boxer shorts on a photograph of Michelangelo’s David. Any books that students wish to read that are not in the library must first be approved by administrators. Those containing references to “magic,” for instance, are normally rejected. The rule book specifically prohibits “fleshly magazines and books.”</p>

<p>or playing the video game, Mr. Dow was campused. Later, in the cafeteria, he ran into a friend who had just been expelled. Mr. Dow had been told not to talk to his friend, who had previously been campused. But he figured it would be OK now that his friend was leaving. “I gave him a hug and said, ‘See you later, man,’” he says.</p>

<p>Someone witnessed the exchange and turned Mr. Dow in. Students routinely turn each other in for violating rules and are rewarded by the administration for doing so. According to several former students, those who report classmates are more likely to become floor leaders.</p>

<p>Mr. Dow was called to the office of the dean of men, where, he says, he waited for about four hours. Then he was expelled.</p>

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<p>theres more on the thread in college life</p>

<p>wowee, even for a Christian COllege, this seems a bit extreme,</p>

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<p>citygirlsmom, My cousin’s daughter attends a Christian college in Texas, where female professors must ask permission of male students before starting their lectures. Makes me cringe.</p>

<p>I don’t think I’ll suggest that my 13-year-old son add Pensacola Christian U to his list (now consisting of only one entry - MIT!)</p>

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<p>with 5000 students and tuition relativly low, wonder where the $$ came from…</p>

<p>double cringe</p>

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<p>they cant even do ballet</p>

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<p>“eye babies” ?? What the heck are “eye babies?” Are they like demons or something?</p>

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<p>Young ladies should dress in a manner that
others will focus on the face and particularly the
eyes, for some say, “the eyes are the mirror of the
soul.”
from their standard of conduct</p>

<p>sound familiar…if it weren’t Florida, these girls would be in burkahs</p>

<p>eyebabies, far as we can tell, its looking</p>

<p>I was creeped out that brithers and sisters can’t hangout, for it may give the apeerance of evil…ewwww</p>

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<p>I’ve read the thread. </p>

<p>It gives me the creeps.</p>

<p>Why do they even bother with a coed school? Just have a convent on one side of town and a monastary on the other side – and never the twain shall meet.</p>

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<p>From the college’s website:</p>

<p>“Pensacola Christian College serves a constituency of churches across America which is primarily independent Baptist.”</p>

<p>The Rev. Fred Phelps, the kook from Topeka who has been picketing the funerals of fallen soldiers, is Independent Baptist, so why am I not surprised?</p>

<p>If any CC posters are members of an Independent Baptist congregation, please comment if my impression is wrong.</p>

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<p>Trumped up efforts to push “moral values” always backfires. Women’s rights, individual human rights, etc. get pushed out the window. </p>

<p>It is sad that people choose to go to schools like this, or live like this, but as long as they don’t try to impose their lack of freedom on the rest of us, or push their own variety of moral values on me, I don’t really care what they do. </p>

<p>Individual choices…hope it works for them.</p>

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<p>What fun! How about we send you there, citygirlsmom, for a term – just to help balance your views?</p>

<p>Is this sort of like the American equivalent to conservative Islam? Any wonder why our cultures clash?!</p>

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<p>Sound like the Taliban to me – eek!</p>

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<p>Getting expelled from a school like this is the best thing that could happen to these kids.</p>

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<p>“What fun! How about we send you there, citygirlsmom, for a term – just to help balance your views?”</p>

<p>I’d chip in for that, as long as I was promised a video of citygirlsmom’s excellent adventure. What do we need, about $2500?</p>

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<p>I’ll chip in! Talk about stirring the pot!!</p>

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<p>Yes, I do believe cgm would return a changed woman, with an entirely new appreciation for freedoms we all may be taking for granted… ; )</p>

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<p>How long could CGM last at a school like that before being expelled? One day?</p>

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<p>Actually my Ds thought it would be fun to “tour” over spring break, showing up in shorts, sunglasses, bear legs, texting on cell phones and holding hands with boys</p>

<p>Did you read that women under 25 cannot get jobs off campus, that a male can drive girls around for mission work so long as his girlfriend is not one of the girls, that girls MUST travel in packs of three, that males and females cannot swim together, or go to public beaches, that movies are forbidden, that rcok, jazz, even newage is forbidden, (okay i understand yanni), males and females must often use different sidewalks, doors, elevators, halls, </p>

<p>only certain restaurants are to be eaten in, vogue mag is porn, </p>

<p>pretty strict stuff that creates the feeling that the “real” world is fraught with danger</p>

<p>do these kids do any service work- helping the homeless, feeding the hungry, cleaning the environment, helping kids</p>

<p>nothing I could find</p>

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<p>We figured last night both my Ds maybe would last 15 minutes, me, i could fake it for about an hour before I would have to rip off my pantyhose in that florida humitity…</p>

<p>Do you realize they can’t hang a poster in their room of Bush and Condi shaking hands…that would be unmarried people touching</p>