John Brown University

:"JBU redirects here. For Jydsk Boldspil-Union, see Jutland Football Association."Infobox University
name=John Brown University


motto="Christ Over All"
established=1919
type=Private
president=Charles Pollard
city=Siloam Springs
state=Arkansas
country=USA
students=2,086
undergrad=1727
postgrad=359
faculty=187
endowment=$64,850,000
campus=200 acres, Small Town
nickname=Golden Eagles
colors=Royal blue, gold
affiliations= Council for Christian Colleges and Universities
website= [http://www.jbu.edu/ http://www.jbu.edu]

John Brown University (JBU) is a private, interdenominational, Christian liberal arts college in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. Founded in 1919, JBU also has regional educational centers in Rogers, Little Rock, and Fort Smith, Arkansas.
The convert|200|acre|km2|sing=on main campus in Northwest Arkansas has been the site of the university since it was founded in 1919. JBU has 1,727 undergraduate students as of the 2007-2008 school year, 1258 of which are traditional undergraduates. Of these, 954 live on campus. JBU is home to students from 40 states and 45 countries. [ [http://www.jbu.edu/news/facts.asp "JBU Facts, 2007-2008." Retrieved on 05-19-08] ]
JBU is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. [ http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/directory/brief/drglance_1100_brief.php U.S. News & World Report America's Best Colleges 2008, "John Brown University at a Glance"] ] JBU competes athletically in the Sooner Athletic Conference. In 2007, US News & World Report ranked JBU fourth among baccalaureate colleges in the Southern region. [ [http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1ccbach_s_brief.php USNews.com: America's Best Colleges 2008: Baccalaureate Colleges (South)] ]

History

John E. Brown: Background

John E. Brown (1879-1957) never had the opportunity to pursue much education, as his family's financial difficulties forced him to begin working at the age of 11. [ http://www.jbu.edu/library/archives/historical_resources/founding_family/jb1.asp John Brown University Archives, "JBU's Founding Family: John Brown Sr"] ] As a teenaged laborer in Arkansas, Brown encountered the Salvation Army and underwent a conversion experience. After his conversion, he became an itinerant Methodist evangelist, with his travels taking him across Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and the Indian Territory.
When he had become a well-known young evangelist, Brown accepted a position as president of Scarrit Collegiate Institute in Neosho. His two years as president were instrumental in developing his plan to establish his own college. However, Brown felt that the strong emphasis of that school on education without the benefit of life training was actually harmful to the students. As he said in 1903, "It might be my privilege to have a part in the building of school that would turn the minds of youth back from this exaggerated concept of the value of book knowledge, to the realization that all this is valuable only as it becomes a background for, or the foundation under, the real things of life." [ [Kennedy, Ralph C., Thomas Rothrock. "John Brown of Arkansas" John Brown University Press, 1999, p.25] ]

While Brown sought to provide simultaneous education and life training to young working-class adults, the founding of the school was based in part on his segregationist views. An admirer of Booker T. Washington's Tuskegee Institute for black Americans, Brown wanted to found a school for specifically white students, saying it should be "a school that will house thousands of these wonderful descendants of pure Anglo-Saxon stock." The student body was intentionally comprised of white students for its first twenty years, nonwhite students appearing around the 1940s. [ [Ostrander, Rick. "Head, Heart, and Hand: John Brown University and Modern Evangelical Higher Education". University of Arkansas Press, 2003, p. 79] ]

Early Years: The Presidency of John E. Brown Sr. 1919-1948

Maintaining this goal of establishing a college that would provide an interdenominational, Christian education for needy students, who like himself, might not have had a chance at receiving an education, Brown laid the foundation in 1919 for the institution that would later be called John Brown University, John E. Brown College. To pay for the institution's free tuition, Brown developed it as a fundamentalist Christian vocational college. Students worked jobs such as carpentry and helped to build the buildings on campus. The typical work-day was four hours in addition to class time. [ [http://www.jbu.edu/library/archives/lantern/pdf/lanternv7oct07.pdf JBU Archives October 2007 Newsletter] ]
Apparently seeking to expand the reach of the growing college, John Brown announced in 1934 that the school was to be changed into a four-year university. The new university was divided into three colleges: the academic, vocational, and Bible colleges, fitting John Brown's stated vision of educating "head, heart, and hand." [ [Kennedy, Ralph C., Thomas Rothrock. "John Brown of Arkansas" John Brown University Press, 1999,p.54] ] Spreading the new university's fields of study into new technology, Brown soon purchased a local radio station from which to broadcast Christian programming and his own sermons. Brown had used radio extensively before, but was eager to get resources of radio into the hands of the university. [ [Kennedy, Ralph C., Thomas Rothrock. "John Brown of Arkansas" John Brown University Press, 1999,p.55] ] The expanded facilities, such as the distinctive Cathedral Group, which took root in the 1930s and 1940s, caused expenses which the school for which the university had to pay. JBU began charging tuition in 1939, albeit a very small amount, and John Brown began to realize that financially, the vocational aspect of the school was more costly than anticipated. The university relied heavily on outside donations to break even financially. [ [Ostrander, Rick. "Head, Heart, and Hand: John Brown University and Modern Evangelical Higher Education". University of Arkansas Press, 2003,101)]

The Shift Away From Fundamentalism

As the university grew, Brown continued to preach throughout the country and on the radio. He was well known for his attacks on liquor, gambling, dancing, and other Christian fundamentalist issues of the time. [ [Ostrander, Rick. "Head, Heart, and Hand: John Brown University and Modern Evangelical Higher Education". University of Arkansas Press, 2003, p. 20] ] This brought him into close proximity with Bob Jones,Sr founder of Bob Jones University, who presented Brown with an honorary doctorate in 1937. In fact, the whole existence of the university was a part of the larger American fundamentalist reaction against the corrupting influences of universities.
In the 1940s, the close ties between JBU and the Christian fundamentalist movement began to wane, as the university took an unexpected turn away from fundamentalism. John Brown himself was always a proponent of interdenominationalism, and by aligning himself with Youth for Christ and other evangelical organizations after World War II, JBU was making a statement. John Brown's description of the school in 1948 as "interdenominational and definitely evangelical" [ [Ostrander, Rick. "Head, Heart, and Hand: John Brown University and Modern Evangelical Higher Education". University of Arkansas Press, 2003,117] ] is very telling in this regard.

The Presidency of John E. Brown Jr. 1948-1979

When John Brown Sr. relinquished control of the university (at least in name, since he remained as Chairman of the Board) in 1948, he began a period of much-needed consolidation. During World War II the student body had dropped to barely over a hundred, and the high echelons of the school's leadership were being run almost exclusively by the Brown family. [Ostrander, Rick. "Head, Heart, and Hand: John Brown University and Modern Evangelical Higher Education". University of Arkansas Press, 2003,99] Under the second Brown, professors and administrators were hired who had more advanced degrees, the Board of Trustees began to develop as a more independent body, and the students elected representatives to an independent council. All of this was beginning to occur by the end of the 1940s. [Ostrander, Rick. "Head, Heart, and Hand: John Brown University and Modern Evangelical Higher Education". University of Arkansas Press, 2003, 109] Also, the university began construction on its Cathedral Group, composed of the chapel sanctuary, known as the Cathedral of the Ozarks, the Science building, and the Library, supposedly symbolizing in building form the idea of educating "head, heart, and hand." As much as JBU grew during this period, it still lacked accreditation and its student body continued to hover at around 300 during the 1950s. After the founder's death in 1957, John Brown Jr. worked to improve the quality of the education JBU provided. One crucial step was the abolition of the university's vocational college. Citing the shifting makeup of the workforce in the 1960s, the president did away with the vocational requirement, with the understanding that each department would provide practical career training as part of its curriculum. [Ostrander, Rick. "Head, Heart, and Hand: John Brown University and Modern Evangelical Higher Education". University of Arkansas Press, 2003, 141] As a result of these reforms and others, JBU was finally nationally accredited by North Central Association.
During the turbulent years of the Vietnam War and the peace movement, JBU was relatively undisturbed. The school nurtured at that time a strong Christian Americanist vision of the world, tying American patriotism and political conservatism to conservative Christian faith. Instead of joining the anti-war movement, many JBU students joined organizations like Campus Crusade for Christ and traveled to other campuses to save souls. When those turbulent times had come and gone, JBU faced the 1970s with uncertainty. Academic standards were low and classes were not challenging. The university recognized the need to improve its quality, so it brought in Elton Trueblood, professor of philosophy at Earlham College, who had written "The Idea of A College" which argued that colleges should focus on liberal arts over career preparation. Trueblood's visits in the mid-1970s inspired JBU to look for ideas in Arthur Holmes' Idea of a Christian College in which a Christian college seeks to integrate faith and learning.

The Presidency of John Brown III 1979-1993

When John Brown Jr. stepped down as president, the job fell to his son, John Brown III, who immediately sought to improve the academic quality of the university. He visited Wheaton College (Illinois) and heralded its commitment to an integration of academic quality and Christian faith. To accompany his praise of Wheaton, he announced that the first consideration of JBU in selecting prospective students would be academic quality, and raising the entrance requirements. As expected, this began to attract more academically gifted students. [Ostrander, Rick. "Head, Heart, and Hand: John Brown University and Modern Evangelical Higher Education". University of Arkansas Press, 2003, 196-197] Also, in the 1980s, an Honors Program was established. However, the third Brown made sure to maintain JBU's historic emphasis on career training, through its non-liberal arts programs such as Engineering, Construction Management, and Graphic Design. As well as academic programs, John Brown III instituted new building programs and a scholarship for Latin American students paid for by Sam Walton. Satisfied with his work, John Brown III stepped down as president, succeeded as president briefly by George Ford, who left after less than a year because of internal difficulties with the university.

The Presidencies of Lee Balzer and Charles Pollard 1994-Present

The former president of Tabor College in Kansas, Lee Balzer, took office after the Ford controversy with a plan to expand the university's reach. He began advance programs for non-traditional students in other cities in Arkansas, and began graduate degrees in counselor education, as well as founding a Center for Marriage and Family Studies along with a graduate program to train marriage and family therapists. Under President Balzer, JBU also founded the Soderquist Center for Business Leadership and Ethics to promote ethical principles in the business world. In addition, JBU's financial campaign at the end of the 1990s raised more than 39 million dollars to build Walker Student Center, Bell Science Hall, North Hall, and the Soderquist Business Center, all in the span of barely more than five years [Ostrander, Rick. "Head, Heart, and Hand: John Brown University and Modern Evangelical Higher Education". University of Arkansas Press, 2003, 222]
In 2004, President Balzer resigned, and JBU hired Charles Pollard, professor of English at Calvin College to take over as president. Since taking office, Pollard has overseen a interior and exterior renovation of the Cathedral Group, the expansion of North Hall, growth in the student body to over 2000 students, and general consolidation after the rapid expansion of the past decade. Today, JBU's numbers continue to rise, and a new basketball arena and a performing arts center are in the works for the future.

Lifestyle Standards and Controversy

In the tradition of other private Christian universities, John Brown University maintains a conservative set of lifestyle regulations. Admitted students are required to sign a community covenant that prohibits, among other things, profanity, pornography, extramarital sexual activity, harassment, tobacco, alcohol, and gambling. [ [http://www.jbu.edu/life/studev/StudentHandbook_2005-06.pdf "JBU Student Handbook, 2005-2006" Retrieved on 05-20-08] ]

John Brown University made national news in its attempt to lessen the severity of its anti-dancing policies when, in 2007, the school sponsored a swing-themed dance on campus. [Oppenheimer, Mark. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28dancing.t.html "The First Dance"] , "The New York Times Magazine", January 28, 2007. Accessed May 19, 2008]

John Brown University again made news in its controversial expelling of an openly gay student based on content found on his Facebook page. [Vickery, Virginia. [http://www.nwanews.com/bcdr/News/30459/ "Gay student ousted from JBU"] , "The Benton County Daily Record", January 25, 2006. Accessed May 19, 2008] While the student was only expelled for one semester and invited to return on unreported terms, the student chose not to return to the school. In addition to making news for its relevance to gay rights, the decision also made news for setting precedent on the implications of personal online content affecting one's public life. [Kornblum, Janet. [http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/internetprivacy/2006-03-08-facebook-myspace_x.htm " What you say online could haunt you"] , "USA Today", March 8, 2006. Accessed May 19, 2008]

Campus

John Brown University's main campus is located on convert|200|acre|km2 in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. The university's most recognizable building, the Cathedral of the Ozarks, was completed in 1957 and, along with the Engineering Building and the Art Building composes the Cathedral group. The Cathedral contains a sanctuary for chapel and other assemblies, and the back portion is a three-floor academic building housing themusic department and the humanities and social sciences. The entire Cathedral group was recently renovated on the inside and resurfaced with white limestone on the exterior.
Between the Cathedral group and Walker Student Center is the campus' main quad, which is used for recreation and relaxation by students. The student center itself houses a cafe, an open area for studying, the post office, and classrooms on the second floor. Attached to the student center is the Walker co-ed residence hall. There are three other residence halls on campus as well: J. Alvin Brown, an all-male dormitory and the oldest building on campus; Mayfield, an all-female hall, and North, a co-ed dormitory and the newest residence hall. Also, upperclassmen can live in the on-campus Townhouses or the Broadhurst Duplexes.
Other buildings on campus are the Bell Science Hall, the Mabee Learning Resource Center, the Chapman Administrative Building, the Admissions Building, and the Walton Lifetime Health Complex. The Murray Sells Gymnasium, home of the JBU basketball teams, is soon to be demolished, with a new arena to be built in its place.

Academics

John Brown University currently offers 47 undergraduate majors, with the most popular being Digital Media, Business Administration, and Graphic Design [ [http://www.jbu.edu/news/facts.asp "JBU Facts, 2007-2008" Retrieved on 05-19-08] ] . As a liberal arts college, JBU requires all students to take a core curriculum of classes, which include several Bible classes, English, a foreign language requirement, science credit, the history of Western civilization, a math requirement, wellness, pychology, government, and philosophy. In the period from 2003 to 2007, JBU rose from 8th to 4th in "US News and World Report" rankings for the Baccalaureate Colleges in the Southern region. JBU's Business department won 1st and 2nd place at the Arkansas Governor's Cup Business Plan competition in 2007, and its student newspaper, the Threefold Advocate was named the best student newspaper in Arkansas in 2008. [JBU Degree Info Sheet [e-mail]] The University Honors Program has 200 student members, and is designed to allow students to take Honors versions of the necessary core classes, which are supposed to be more challenging and more encouraging of independent student research. JBU is one of the few small Christian colleges to offer comprehensive degrees in Graphic Design, Photography, and Digital Media. The libraries on campus house 120,000 volumes, and offer Interlibrary Loan and tutoring assistance.

Associated Centers

John Brown University has two endowed, associated centers: The Center for Relationship Enrichment and The Soderquist Center for Leadership and Ethics.

Athletics

JBU competes in NAIA Division 1 athletics. The university has intercollegiate teams in Men and Women's Basketball, Men and Women's Soccer, Women's Volleyball, Men and Women's Tennis, and Men's Golf.

Basketball

On September 11, 2005, the JBU Men's Basketball team won the NAIA Division I National Championship. John Brown defeated Azusa Pacific University 65-55 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. [ [http://naia.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/archive/naia-m-baskbl-2005.html "NAIA DI Men's Basketball 2005-06 Archives," Retrieved on 2008-2-15] ]

Golf

The JBU varsity men's golf team was originally formed in 1966. The team lasted until 1973, at which time it was cut from the athletic program. The school plans to restart its men's varsity golf team in the fall of 2008. [ [http://www.jbu.edu/news/press_releases/release.asp?id=2892 Press Release: "JBU Revives Men's Golf Program," February 12, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-2-15] ]

Club Teams and Intramurals

The university has three club sports teams: baseball, rugby union, and ultimate. These clubs compete against clubs from other universities. To house its club teams, JBU has a rugby pitch and baseball field on campus. JBU students also participate in a number of intramural sports, from soccer to volleyball to flag football to dodgeball, among others. Many of these events take place on the intramural fields or in the Walton Lifetime Health Complex.

List of notable alumni

* Carolyn Pollan -- This 1959 JBU graduate is the longest serving Republican and the longest serving woman member of the Arkansas House of Representatives. She represented Fort Smith from 1975-1999. She is a member of the JBU trustees.
* Jim Winn - Former MLB Pitcher
* John Osteen Founder of Lakewood Church [http://www.daystarchristian.com/a_tribute_to_pastor_john_osteen.htm]
* Janet Huckabee - Wife of former GOP Presidential Candidate and former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee. Janet Huckabee completed her undergraduate degree at John Brown University in 2003.

List of notable faculty

* Mike Flynn
* Wally Moon

References

External links

* [http://www.jbu.edu/ John Brown University]
* [http://advocate.jbu.edu/ The Threefold Advocate — John Brown University's student newspaper]
* [http://www.jbu.edu/rugby/ JBU Rugby Football Club]
* [http://www.facebook.com/pages/Siloam-Springs-AR/John-Brown-University/7879879825 Official JBU Facebook Page] +
* [http://www.jbu.edu/news/facts.asp JBU Facts] +
* [http://www.jbu.edu/vt/ JBU Campus Virtual Tour]
* [http://www.jbu.edu/admissions/ Admissions]