Ten Myths About Pensacola Christian College DEBUNKED

This survivor is telling you to stop believing everything you hear on the internet. Last I checked, I wasn’t a cultist and didn’t participate in any weird religious rituals (wait, okay, singing the Doxology every chapel service might be a little ritualistic, but other than that).

There’s a lot of confusion on the internet about the rules and culture of PCC, and trolls have even attacked me on YouTube, saying they’d “call the college” and get me “kicked out for having YouTube.” (Considering that YouTube now works on the WiFi, and that the college gave me a scholarship for $1300 after I made this video for a contest, I think they’re pretty chill with my channel, but thanks for your concern about my education.)

A lot of people ask me questions about the “strict rules” that I’m “forced to live with.” Almost every single question/accusation has factually inaccurate information. So I’m here to set the rumors to rest. Here’s ten myths the web will tell you about PCC.

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Myth #1: You don’t get Thanksgiving break – FALSE

This rumor comes from an old academic calendar. Some years ago, students only got Thanksgiving Day off and had to attend several events (a church service and the main meal). The reasoning behind it was to accommodate for PCC’s College Days, a campus “open house” for prospective students and family. College Days fell in line with high school Thanksgiving breaks, and they wanted visitors to be able to attend classes and get an accurate college experience.

Rumor had it that if you skipped Friday classes, they counted as double skips and your grade could be lowered (people also said you could be instantly fired from your campus job if you failed to report into work). Having lived through these alleged “dark days,” I’m suspicious of the validity of this particular rumor, but never really got to the bottom of it.

Today, College Days have been rescheduled and students have a four-day-weekend for Thanksgiving and another for Easter, with an addition of several midterm breaks and such. Most of the vacation days in the calendar still go to the five-week-long Christmas break, but considering five weeks is longer than most colleges, no one really complains.

Myth #2: You need a chaperone if you want to go off campus. At all. – PARTIALLY FALSE

No, you don’t need a chaperone to go off campus, except under certain circumstances. Currently, PCC has chaperones accompany any group that includes both genders, and while this is sometimes frustrating, there’s been talk of the school changing this forty-year-old rule (yes, it’s that old). We’ll see what happens this coming year.

As for any other circumstance (a run to Walmart, a day trip to the beach) you’re free to travel alone. You can go off campus as an individual or take a massive group. You don’t need a chap. That’s…kind of ridiculous.

Myth #3: Social media is banned. – SUPER FALSE

This is kind of hilarious considering that my campus job literally is making promotional videos for the school’s Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. This rumor originates, again, from an old system that was nullified before I became a student: Facebook originally was not supported on the campus WiFi.

Here’s the thing about campus WiFi. Its bandwidth used to be pretty bad, so streaming video wasn’t supported (YouTube, for example). But that doesn’t mean it was illegal to have, use, or watch–at least when I was there. It just means the WiFi couldn’t support 5,000 students watching Avenger movie trailers. In fact, we weren’t the only school that limits streaming video because of bandwidth.

However, this summer, IT rolled out an upgrade to the campus WiFi, purchasing thousands of dollars worth of bandwidth to accommodate sites like YouTube, Reddit, Twitch, Facebook Messenger, the Mail App, Skype, and FaceTime. The student community also relies heavily on Facebook and Instagram, because that’s where PCCBay, the Student Discussion Page, and PCC Memes are.

Myth #4: You have assigned seating at meals. – FALSE

I love this one. This was a rule when my parents were students and just goes to show you that the internet doesn’t care to fact check its sources. Back in the day, dinner was a required event, you had to dress up for it, and you sat at assigned tables. The idea was to get to know new people, as opposed to sitting around the same friends all the time. I personally can’t imagine having this rule now, but my parents insisted that it worked and they enjoyed meeting people.

While we’re talking about meals back in the day, PCC used to only have one food line and you were required to put that single food option on your plate (whether you ate it or not). Also, back in the day, it was a state law that certain institutions were required to serve liver once a month, or so I’m told. Mom and Dad said everyone “clocked in” for supper, chose not to eat, and then went off campus to a fast food place afterward.

But don’t worry. Assigned seats, professional dress, required meals, and yes, liver, are all a thing of the past.

Myth #5: Headphones are illegal. – FALSE

It’s been a year and a half since this rule has become obsolete. It was an old, very outdated rule, that was put into place years ago by a different school president. I think the idea behind it was to keep students from listening to trashy music, but I learned quickly during my freshman, sophomore, and part of junior year that this didn’t really solve any problems. The kids who didn’t care about the rule either ignored it or listened to their music without headphones.

Before the rule was abolished, yes, people hid their headphones like contraband: under the pillow, in the drawer, etc. Some people had over five pairs of headphones because they kept being caught, the headphones confiscated, and buying replacements.

Although the college’s music standards have not changed, headphones are now totally legal. It may have taken a few weeks to recover from spontaneous heart attacks every time we saw our RA walk by with headphones of her own, but now the illegalness of headphones is just a distant legend. To help remember the dark days, appreciate these golden PCC Memes that broke the internet the day of the announcement:

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Also, this was actually a photo of the headphone section at Target the same day:

Myth #6: Girls have to wear nylons/stockings/pantyhose/ whateverthosethingsarecalled. – FALSE

Gonna make this quick because there’s really nothing to talk about here. 2014 was the last year anyone was ever required to wear these torture devices. I literally can’t think of one instance where you’d be required to wear these (unless maybe for a costume in a play production).

Myth #7: Guys can’t talk to girls after 6pm. – FALSE

Another one from my parents’ days. I’m not sure when this finally disappeared from the rulebook, but I can’t imagine life with it. Considering that if I do any socializing at all it’s after 8, I don’t know how I’d ever meet anyone.

President Shoemaker openly made fun of this old rule one day in chapel, jokingly wondering with us what “magical thing” happened after 6pm. Needless to say, guys and girls can contentedly continue staring at each other outside the dorms to their heart’s content–at least until the dorms close at 10:25.

Myth #8: Guys have to walk on blue sidewalks; girls on pink. No crossing. Ever. – FALSE

Um…someone told me this was actually an old Bob Jones rule years ago, but other than that, I can’t remember if I ever found a factual answer on from where this rumor started. (And now a BJU friend of mine attests his campus never did this either.) Right now, the only place the college is concerned about you walking is the crosswalks. Like, they really want you to use the crosswalks.

Any shred of truth to this rumor may be due to the elevator and stairs rule. Guys typically use one stair tower/elevator in academic buildings and girls use the other. Don’t tell anyone, but I’ve totally used the men’s elevators in the Academic Center and the Mackenzie Building. And I’ve climbed the guys’ stairs. Props to my campus job that involves helping guys carry video equipment up to the science lab. *grins*

Myth #9: Your roommates are required to snitch on you. – FALSE

This is just…. I don’t even know. Maybe whoever spread this rumor had bad roommates or something. Nowhere have I seen in a rulebook say that I’m required to report every naughty behavior from my roommates to my RA. Of course you’re encouraged to do the right thing, and if your roommate needs serious help and you’re worried about them, definitely let someone know…but being forced to rat on your roommates for something as simple as using headphones (oh wait, they’re not illegal anymore)? That’s a little extreme.

Myth #10: You’re not allowed to slurp Jell-O with a straw. – TRUE

Actually, you probably won’t find this on the internet. My parents told me a story about when Pastor Jim Schettler was a student. Apparently, he and his buddies would try to sip Jell-O through their straws and cause a big distraction at their table. The dining services grew so frustrated with them that they would call them out during meals to stop, and eventually it became an official rule in the college rulebook for some time.

To be honest, I think the rule was removed a long time ago, because the rulebook is nowhere near that specific anymore. But for a long time, Pastor Schettler would joke that he was responsible for that rule. Maybe it’s time for someone new to try it.

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So. Take it from someone who’s been there for four years instead of reading an underground Wikipedia page. Frankly, I’m tired of people berating my school–a school that legitimately wants to help its students and make them better people. I’m tired of YouTube trolls under my videos telling incoming freshmen to “turn back now.” Half the people who chime in wouldn’t even be able to point out my college on a map, let alone accurately critique its institutional standards.

Is PCC a conservative college? Yes. Does it have rules you’re expected to follow? Yes. Do I agree with every rule? No. But is it a cult?

Absolutely not.