Just when you thought that Bob Jones University had already set the bar for atrocious, archaic rules and intolerance, school officials did something even more disgusting.

They reversed their ban on interracial dating.

The reversal was obviously a good idea. But the motivation behind the sudden switch proved the university’s true colors. They changed the policy not because it was horribly wrong and offensive, but because of intense media pressure.

The school representatives should know that nobody’s fooled by their switcheroo — they’re still bigots in academic clothing.

Bob Jones University, an institution that waged a lengthy legal war to try to keep its tax-exempt status even though its policies banning minorities clearly conflicted with federal guidelines, has long been a pit stop for Republican candidates who are campaigning in South Carolina for the presidency.

Much in the mainstream media has been made of front-runner Texas Gov. George Bush’s speech at the university, in which Bush failed to speak out against the school administration’s racist policies forbidding interracial dating and its blatant anti-Catholic views.

After weeks of trying to pretend the issue wasn’t important during the crucial primary season, Bush finally fessed up last week, saying he was sorry that he spoke at the controversial site without at least commenting on the administration’s insulting practices.

But Bush’s semi-apology didn’t seem to satisfy the media, and finally, last Friday, university President Bob Jones III told Larry King on CNN’s “Larry King Live” that the university had decided to repeal the ban on interracial dating, citing the scrutiny and bad press as main factors in changing the policy.

In both cases — Bush’s speaking at Bob Jones and then apologizing and university officials flip-flopping the rules — it’s too little, too late.

In the interview with King, Jones was trying desperately to make it seem as if the university’s former policy on interracial dating wasn’t something that defined the school, its faculty or students. It was just an old rule that was being ignored, and it had nothing to do with the university, Jones said.

Not only is Jones a bad spin doctor, he’s an out-and-out liar.

If the policy didn’t define the university, or wasn’t even an important part of it, why did the administration agree to forfeit its tax-exempt status in 1983 simply to keep the ban?

Although it’s a positive step that the ruling has been abolished, the reasoning is contrived and still insulting, and nothing’s changed.

Bob Jones University is still a prejudiced institution with vile views, and Bush is still an inept politician.

Iowa State Daily Editorial Board: Sara Ziegler, Greg Jerrett, Kate Kompas, Carrie Tett and David Roepke.