Biola University — Attraction in La Mirada

This university needs Jesus. I have seen too much. I was a student at BIOLA until over a year ago I decided to leave. There is a specific 'BIOLA mold' that you have to fit, otherwise you will not fit in at all. you have to be evangelical (even though they allow all denominations to attend). If you are not white, or at least act like you are white, then you will not fit in at all. They have an annual SCORR (student congress on racial reconciliation) conference, but the students think that we should pretend that there is no race and that there is only one race (the human race). but don't realize that people of difference races experience life and the world differently. The one thing that bothers me the most is that they will allow pretty much anyone in for a chapel speaker. Kind of like TBN allows pretty much anyone on there channel. Each person is pointing in a different direction saying, "the right way is this way". And they have become so worldly. One good example is concerning their view on LGBT rights. Many years ago, mid twentieth century, they would not hesitate to hire coloured staff and faculty, in fact they would do it despite the many people that were strongly against it. But now they are extremely ambiguous about their view on LGBT people. I have many other things to say, but they are too personal. If you are considering going to this school and are not straight, white (or are greatly influenced by the white culture), evangelical, or between 17 and 21 years old, you should seriously pray about it. God did many amazing things for me there, but none of them had to do with the people there. He showed me His presence and His power and His love, but not through the Bible classes, not through the faculty/staff, not through the students. Many of the bible classes were too vague and required that your Bible be a textbook. Other biblical/theological classes don't even address the love, power, grace, peace, freedom of Jesus Christ. The faculty/staff are really hit or miss, but having personal conversations with some of them I noticed that they either focus on reason or they have strange views that they also teach in their classes. The students are neglectful in my opinion, they probably don't usually intend to be, but it truly is hard when you have a test or essay due in 4-6 different classes. It really bothers me that, just before I left, there was an announcement about a certain speaker who was coming back and how after they were here about 6 years before, that an almost revival occurred and lasted for a few weeks. The way they talked about this was very positive and the response was also very positive. I'm not sure what an almost revival is, but I do know this: My God never does...

I applied for Biolas grad program, simply to get a single subject teaching credential. The application process was awful and nightmarish. Total waste of money and huge waste of my time. It took me 3 months, I didn’t get in, and set my career and professional life back by half a year or maybe even a year. At the very least, Biola needs to stop embedding their online credential program on Google advertising themselves as the convenient option. They are not convenient. Unless you are someone that loves and has always dreamed of going there, do not waste your time with them. They need to stop advertising their program as an option of convenience. If it’s so great and you force your applicants to do so much, and you have the intention of rejecting people who you don’t think meld with the spirit of your institution, then stop leading people in and keep your program exclusive to the people who really love Biola. There’s nothing wrong with that, but don’t waste the time of others and tell them to their face that they aren’t worthy of participating in the professional world, after they wasted so much time and money to join your program. If I had realized how bad and tough the process was going to be, I wouldn’t have wasted all my time with it. So, the application process was terrible. I’ve gotten multiple full rides for undergrad with less effort than I put into Biola. After the application process, they’re going to interview you. The interview was terrible and it’s just corporate garbage. Sorry I’m a total weirdo to your corporate culture, hopefully one day you can apologize to me bc your corporate way of ACTING is totally weird to me. Just some grease bag who told me I’m not good enough to fill the professional role I’m interested in because I was honest about the way I feel about the career world and because I was honest about the reasons for choosing to change my career to being a teacher. Awful experience. Waste of time....

Summary: I love Biola's community, but the powers-that-be are prioritizing the wrong things.

There are many outstanding individuals at Biola, and I remain a student here because of them. My problem lies with an administration that prioritizes profitability over Christlike care for the community that I love. I struggle to find a biblically consistent reason for giving higher-ups a pay raise while firing many beloved faculty and staff and raising the cost of tuition, especially given that many of the higher-ups live in luxury. It's not Christlike; it's not biblical. It goes against Biola's motto, "all as one," and it goes against Biola's commitment to forming a biblically-centered community.

To end on a positive note, I would still highly recommend attending Biola if you are a prospective student. The numerous individual staff and faculty members who serve their students with excellence and passion made my Biola experience...