COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Bob Jones University is apologizing for racist policies that included a one-time ban on interracial dating and its unwillingness to admit black students into the 1970s.

In a statement posted Thursday on its Web site, the school in Greenville says its rules on race were shaped by culture instead of the Bible.

The university says president Stephen Jones decided to issue the
statement because he still receives questions about the school's
views on race.

The fundamentalist Christian university, with about 5,000 students, banned interracial dating until 2000 and did not allow black students until 1971.

George W. Bush was criticized in 2000 for speaking at the school
while the interracial dating ban was in place.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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