News & Updates

Jarvis Christian College has formed a partnership with the University of Texas at Tyler to offer seamless pathways for students to earn degrees and further enhance higher education in East Texas.

“We are forging a relationship that will provide better opportunities for all of our students to advance their education and be better prepared for the 21^st century,” said Dr. Glenell M. Lee-Pruitt, Jarvis Christian College Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. “With this new partnership, students will have an opportunity to choose from an array of academic and career pathways.”

Under the agreement, undergraduate students from Jarvis will be able to transfer into selected undergraduate programs at UT Tyler. The selected programs will not duplicate those offered by Jarvis. Also, UT Tyler students will have an opportunity to pursue majors at Jarvis that are not offered at UT Tyler.

“The partnership is a win-win for both The University of Texas at Tyler and Jarvis Christian College, and especially for students and the region.” said Dr. Amir Mirmiran, UT Tyler Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. “We welcome this partnership that will not only further the friendly relationship and collaboration between our two institutions, but also help advance higher education in East Texas.”

The agreement also will allow qualified Jarvis students to begin limited study in selected master’s degree programs at UT Tyler as they complete their bachelor’s degrees from Jarvis.

Jarvis President Dr. Lester C. Newman and UT Tyler President Dr. Michael Tidwell made the partnership official by signing... More

Actor, comedian and singer Mr. Jamie Foxx will receive an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Jarvis Christian College during the 2018 Spring Commencement activities at 10 a.m. May 5, 2018, in the E.W. Rand Center.

Mr. Foxx was born Eric Marlon Bishop in Terrell, Texas, on December 13, 1967, to Darrell Bishop and Louise Annette Talley Dixon. Shortly after his birth, he was adopted and raised by his mother's adoptive parents, Esther Marie (Nelson) and Mark Talley.

Mr. Foxx began playing the piano when he was 5 years old. As a teenager, he was a part-time pianist and choir leader in Terrell’s New Hope Baptist Church. He attended Terrell High School, where he received top grades and played basketball and football.

After high school, Mr. Foxx received a scholarship to United States International University, where he studied classical music and composition.

Mr. Foxx is a Grammy Award-winning musician, producing four albums which charted in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200: "Unpredictable," "Intuition," "Best Night of My Life" and “Hollywood: A Story of a Dozen Roses.”

In 1991, Mr. Foxx joined the cast of “In Living Color.” Following a recurring role in the comedy-drama “Roc,” he went on to star in his own sitcom, “The Jamie Foxx Show,” from 1996-2001. His other television performances include roles in “Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper,” “Moesha” and “Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story.” Foxx currently serves as host and executive producer of the new Fox game show "Beat Shazam."  

Mr. Foxx’s film career includes “Any Given Sunday,” “Ali,” “Collateral,” “Ray,” “Dreamgirls,” “Django Unchained,”... More

Mr. Jesse J. Holland, Race and Ethnicity writer for the Associated Press, will give the keynote address during Jarvis Christian College’s 2018 Spring Commencement ceremonies at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 5, 2018, in the E.W. Rand Center on the College campus.

Mr. Holland is the author of “Black Panther: Who is the Black Panther?” a companion novel to Marvel’s blockbuster movie, “Black Panther.”

Mr. Holland, a native of Holly Springs, Mississippi, is an award-winning journalist. His book, “The Invisibles: The Untold Story of African-American Slavery Inside The White House,” was named the 2017 silver medal award winner in U.S. History in the Independent Publisher Book Awards and one of the top history books of 2016 by Smithsonian.com.

Mr. Holland is also the author of “Black Men Built the Capitol: Discovering African-American History In and Around Washington, D.C.,” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens -- Finn's Story.” He is also the co-creator of the late, lamented comic strip, "Hippie and the Black Guy."

Mr. Holland is a former White House, Supreme Court and Congressional reporter. He teaches creative nonfiction at Goucher College in Towson, Maryland, where he received his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction from Goucher College in 2012. He also is a graduate of the University of Mississippi with a Liberal Arts degree with an emphasis in journalism and English, and the former Visiting Distinguished Professor of Ethics in Journalism at the University of Arkansas.

Three human rights leaders will gather on Jarvis Christian College’s campus for “Mission, Vocation and the Call to Social Justice: Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Dr. John D. Mangram,” on Wednesday, April 18, 2018.

Dr. Robert Franklin, Candler School of Theology, Emory College; Dr. Charles Steele Jr., Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) President; and Dr. Bernard Lafayette Jr., co-founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) will lead the Social Justice Conference sessions.

Beginning at 11 a.m., Dr. Franklin will lead a session on “Discerning Your Mission in Life” in the Charles A. Meyer Auditorium.

Dr. Franklin is the James T. and Berta R. Laney Professor of Moral Leadership at Emory University (Atlanta) and is Senior Advisor to the President of Emory University. He served as Director of the Religion Department of the Chautauqua Institution from 2014 to 2017. In 2014, he served as Senior Advisor for Community and Diversity, Emory University (Atlanta). In 2013, he was a Visiting Scholar in Residence at Stanford University’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute.

He is president emeritus of Morehouse College where he served as the 10th president of the nation’s largest private, four-year liberal arts college for men from 2007 through 2012. Dr. Franklin was the Presidential Distinguished Professor of Social Ethics at Emory University (2004-2007), where he provided leadership for a university-wide initiative titled “Confronting the Human Condition and the Human Experience” and was a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at the law school.... More

Mr. Kevin W. Williams, former Board Chairman, President and Managing Director of General Motors (GM) of Canada Ltd., will give the keynote address during Jarvis Christian College’s Honors Convocation at 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 17, 2018, in the Smith-Howard Chapel.

As President and Managing Director, Mr. Williams was responsible for leading all General Motors operations in Canada. Prior to this, he served as GM Vice President and General Manager, Service and Parts Operations, where he oversaw all GM Global Aftersales businesses and served as Chairman and Global Process Leader for the GM Automotive Aftermarket Strategy Board.

Mr. Williams has held a number of global senior roles at General Motors, including Chairman, President and Managing Director of GM de Mexico and GM North America Vice President of Quality. He was a member of the GM North America Strategy Board from May 2003 through June 2009. Prior assignments included positions as Global Executive Director, Supplier Quality, Development and Supplier Diversity for Worldwide Purchasing and Executive Director, Supplier Quality and Development for GM Europe, based in Russelsheim, Germany, with responsibilities spanning 22 countries and 1,500 employees.

Mr. Williams began his GM career in 1983 as a reliability analyst at Buick Motor’s division in Flint, Michigan. In 1989, he became the General Supervisor of Production at the Lansing Craft Centre in Lansing, Michigan. In 1991, he was appointed Program Readiness Manager for GM's first electric vehicle program (EV1).

Mr. Williams earned a bachelor's degree in business management from Tennessee State University in 1983 and a master's degree in... More

The Rev. Jerard R. Mosley Sr., pastor of North Star Missionary Baptist Church in Tyler, will be the Chapel speaker at 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 10, 2018, in Smith Howard Chapel on the Jarvis Christian College campus. 

In June 1993, Rev. Mosley accepted the call to ministry. He preached his first sermon and was licensed in September 1993. In 1995, Rev. Mosley started pastoring New Home Baptist Church of Gladewater, Texas. In March 1995, he was ordained at New Bethel Baptist Church of Tyler, Texas.

Rev. Mosley has served as the President of the Zion District Congress of Christian Education and as the President of the Paris Ministers’ Alliance. In October 2015, the members of North Star Missionary Baptist Church of Tyler, Texas, accepted Rev. Mosley as their leader.

Dr. Menah Pratt-Clarke, Vice President for Strategic Affairs and Vice Provost for Inclusion and Diversity at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), will be the speaker at Jarvis Christian College’s 2018 J.N. Ervin Lecture on Thursday, March 22.

The Lecture, part of the College’s Founders/Homecoming festivities, begins at 11 a.m. in the Smith-Howard Chapel.

Dr. Pratt-Clarke also is Professor of Education in the School of Education in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, with affiliations in Africana Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies and the Department of Sociology.

She has more than 20 years of administrative, academic and legal experience in higher education, with a focus on executing and coordinating large-scale strategic initiatives that promote institutional transformation. Prior to joining Virginia Tech, Dr. Pratt-Clarke had senior administrative positions and faculty positions at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Vanderbilt University.

Dr. Pratt-Clarke has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa with a major in English and minors in Philosophy and African-American Studies. She received a master’s degree in Literary Studies from the University of Iowa and a master’s degree in Sociology from Vanderbilt University. In addition, she earned her doctorate in Sociology and her law degree from Vanderbilt University.

Dr. Pratt-Clarke is frequently invited to speak on issues of diversity and inclusion, race and social justice, equity, leadership, education, women and gender, and promoting a more just and inclusive society and empowering the powerless.

Dr. Pratt-Clarke’s research interests include critical race studies, Black feminism, and critical... More

Jarvis Christian College’s 2018 Founders/Homecoming kicks off Monday, March 19, and continues through Sunday, March 25, on the College campus. The weeklong event will include the Pioneer Hall of Fame and Preeminence Awards Gala on Saturday, March 24, in the Rand Center, featuring legendary R&B band Con Funk Shun. The group is known for songs such as “Chase Me," "Ffun," "Shake and Dance With Me”  and "Love's Train." Also performing will be Stephanie Sallie and Will Foraker with host Celebrity the Comedian.

Jarvis Christian College’s African-American Museum turned a year old this month.

The museum, featuring the Rodney Lamar Atkins Collection, opened Feb. 8, 2017, in the Olin Learning and Resource Center on the College campus.

Atkins, Director of the Olin Library, is encouraging schools, church groups and social organizations to make reservations to tour the museum during Black History Month and throughout the year.

Atkins has been collecting memorabilia for more than 30 years and continues to add items to the growing exhibit. The latest addition includes information on car inventors and the history of the car.

For more information or to make reservations, call (903) 730-4890, Ext. 2173.

Mr. Charles Steele Jr., President/CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), will be the featured speaker for Jarvis Christian College's Black History Month Program on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2018. The program will begin at 11 a.m. in the Smith-Howard Chapel on the Campus.

Mr. Steele, a Civil Rights leader, was elected to the Tuscaloosa City Council in 1985, where he served two terms. During his tenure as City Councilman, he organized the Unity Day Scholarship Fund, the Tuscaloosa Police Athletic League and secured funds to build the Bernice Washington Insight Center, a drug treatment center. He also organized the Tuscaloosa Drug Task Force and the Partners for a Drug Free Tuscaloosa County (formerly Tuscaloosa Drug Task Force).

In 1994, Mr. Steele was elected to the Alabama State Senate. The Senator played key roles in recruiting not one, but several new plants in his district. He also sponsored a non-traditional educational program with Robert Townsend of Hollywood, California, for the youth of his district. Additionally, he recruited the Rosa Parks movie to Alabama, where he served as a consultant to the production of the $7 million CBS movie project.

Mr. Steele was serving his third term as Senator before resigning to become the National Vice President of the SCLC, the Atlanta based organization founded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In October 2000, he was elected as a Senate Member of the High Chamber (U.S. Parliamentary Group) of the International States Parliament for Safety... More