given directly to the universities into a new scholarship fund for Baptist students.
In 2009, the schools gained autonomy from the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and established a “good faith and cooperative” relationship with it. The four other schools were, Mars Hill University, Gardner-Webb University, Wingate University, and Chowan University.
== Campus ==
Located in the Sandhills of southeastern North Carolina, the university is nestled in the small unincorporated village of Buies Creek near the Cape Fear River. The Buies Creek census-designated place population was only 2,215 in the 2000 census and the surrounding area remains rural. However, Buies Creek is approximately 33 miles (53 km) south of Raleigh, the state capital, North Carolina's second-largest city, and approximately 33 miles (53 km) north of Fayetteville, North Carolina's sixth-largest city.
The center of campus is Academic Circle, which fronts Leslie Campbell Avenue to the south. Academic Circle is a grass thoroughfare, laced …
