Born on the Greenville campus, Stephen Jones received a bachelor’s degree in public speaking from BJU in 1992 and an M.Div. in 1996. On the day he became the fourth University president in 2005, he was also awarded a Ph.D. in Liberal Arts Studies from BJU. Early in his administration, BJU was granted full accreditation by the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools. In November 2008, Jones issued a statement saying that the University was “profoundly sorry” for having allowed “institutional policies to remain in place that were racially hurtful.” In the fall of 2010, he became seriously ill, took an extended medical leave, and ultimately chose to resign from the presidency for health reasons in December 2013.