Societies
With a student population of several thousand, you might be afraid of being one more face in the crowd. Don’t worry. BJU’s societies help you meet new friends and get involved in activities including sports, outreach and prayer meeting.
What are societies?
Societies are designed to encourage productive, cooperative and godly relationships that display Christlike character. Each society communicates its specific mission through its motto, mascot and theme verse.
Societies operate according to an officer system. You’ll have the chance to develop leadership skills by serving in various offices like president, vice president, chaplain, chorister, secretary and treasurer. The officers plan Friday society meetings, prayer meetings, outings and outreach opportunities.
The goal of the camaraderie, activities and prayer meetings is to channel the Gospel and love for each other into a focus on service to the campus, local churches and the surrounding communities.
Choosing your society
At the beginning of the school year, society booths are set up for the purpose of welcoming and encouraging you to join their societies. This fantastic food-filled, several-day event is called Rush. At the end of the week, new students meet in the Davis Field House to choose and then join a society at an undisclosed location on campus where the rest of the members are waiting to welcome you with food and inductions.
While a lot of Rush is crazy, the main purpose of Rush isn’t food or fun; it’s for you to get to the core of that society and discover what its focus is. You will be able to meet officers and members, find out the society verse and mission, and get a general vibe of what society is like.
At check-in, each new student receives a Rush Guide, which offers some history about societies, recommended questions for you to ask members, society sports and service records, and a Society of the Year feature.
Men’s Societies | Women’s Societies
What will you do in your society?
Societies can help you develop others-serving relationships through community service projects and campus outreach ministries. The purpose of outreach ministries is to extend the Gospel to the community. Society members recognize a need and organize a group to meet it with the Gospel.
Each semester, your society hosts a stag (members only) outing or a dating outing. Stag outings promote community through a variety of excursions, from intense sports like white-water rafting and paintball, to laid-back activities like roller-skating and hiking. For a dating outing, you can, as the name implies, bring a date or friend. These outings can be anything from a formal banquet to horse-back riding.
Intramural Sports
The intramural sports program at BJU revolves around both men’s and women’s societies. You’ll be able to try out for as many sports as your society offers. If you don’t play sports, you can still go and support your society team. Learn more about intramural sports.