Dear Friends and Friends of Friends,
As you
may know, this is my last semester of law school. Lord willing, I will complete
my JD in December and take the California Bar Exam in either February or July
of 2014.
A
requirement for graduation from Oak Brook College of Law is a Senior Paper on a
question of law. I will be researching the question, “Is BJU’s ‘Forsake Me Not’
Promise to its Faculty Enforceable, and if so, By Whom?” By “Forsake Me Not” I
do not refer to the endowment fund mentioned in the late-1990s videotape, but
to Dr. Bob Jones, Sr.’s promise to take care of faculty in their retirement.
This promise is described in Dan Turner’s book Standing Without Apology on page 237, thus:
“The Founder’s ideal was that each member of
the faculty was hired for life, and he
promised that the school would care for each member of the faculty,
providing him or her with housing, food,
medical care, and a small retirement salary until death.” (my emphasis)
Standing also indicates that a
profit-sharing plan was instituted in 1989 to deal with tax issues in the years
after the Supreme Court tax case, but no mention is made that the original promise
was withdrawn. In fact, I clearly remember than when I came on staff in 1992,
the above statement was still being made. I am not aware of the moment when (if
ever) it was stated that there was no more Promise, and though I have heard
rumors that the “endowment is lost,” I have no details on that.
I am
aware that recently a number of older staff and faculty have been fired after
lengthy careers at BJU. Some of these servants of God have been left with
nothing—no retirement except Social Security, no Dining Common privileges, and
no housing stipends. I would like to hear more. I would also like to hear from
people who have been retired with benefits, as well as anyone else who would be
willing to speak with me.
I am
further interested to hear from people currently employed by the University.
Are you confident you will be taken care of in your retirement years? Are you
fearful of being let go just before retirement age? If you are left with only
Social Security payments, will these payments be sufficient for you to have a
peaceful retirement? What amount of monthly Social Security payments do you
expect to receive based on the salary you received while employed at BJU?
I have
loved and defended the University for many years. Many of you know that I
received my MA in Church History in 1981, and that I worked at BJU Press from
1992 through my husband’s graduation from the nursing program in 1997. I have
published eleven books with Journeyforth, all of which are in print as of the
date of the letter. I have no animosity toward my alma mater, but recently I
have been feeling a deep and growing discomfort about how older faculty are
being treated.
Of
course I want to protect your anonymity if that is your wish. I can do that by
disguising your name, dates of service, department, and so on. I regret that it
will make my paper less useful if I don’t know who you are, so I will need your
correct information, but I promise to safeguard your private information if you
prefer to be referred to pseudonymously. I am aware that there are faithful
servants of Jesus who are working under fear of being fired, and this is one factor
that has caused me to look into this matter.
I have
heard from a few people already who have given up hope because, so they have
said to me, “It was an oral promise.” There are laws about oral promises. They
are not all gratuitous and unenforceable. Nor was this promise entirely oral.
It is contained, for example, in Standing
Without Apology, and recorded in the video we all received during the late
1990s regarding the proposed Forsake Me Not endowment.
I
appreciate any help you can give me as I work through this problem. I look
forward to hearing from many of you regarding your understanding of the
Promise, how it applied or applies to you personally (or to your parents or
spouses), how the profit-sharing plan was presented and how that has worked out,
and so forth. I assume I will also hear from those who would not like me to
poke around in such things. To them I can only say that I hope their jobs are
safe and that they never need to worry about how to live on a few hundred
dollars a month in Social Security payments.
I can
be reached at sharonhambrick@hotmail.com. I prefer not to speak by phone, as I
wish to have everything written down. Please feel free to share this note with
anyone whom you think might be interested.
Sincerely,
Sharon Hambrick
MA 1981
BJU Press 1992-1997
Author of
Arby Jenkins, Arby
Jenkins Mighty Mustang, Arby Jenkins Ready to Roll, Stuart’s Run to Faith, Arby
Jenkins Meets His Match, Adoniram
Judson: God’s Man in Burma, The Year of Abi Crim, Tommy’s Clubhouse, Tommy’s Rocket,
Tommy’s Race, Brain Games
