Jarvis Christian University celebrates transition from college to university

A new campus name is bringing joy to community members, staff and alumni. On Friday evening, Jarvis Christian College hosted a name changing ceremony in celebration of its transition to Jarvis Christian University. For JCU, it’s not only a name change but a chance for the campus to serve more people and expand its opportunities, said Lester C. Newman, president of Jarvis Christian University. “Today it’s a historic day for Jarvis Christian University, as you know we were Jarvis Christian College, and now we’re expanding opportunities that we provide for the community to students and now we become a university. This is a great day. Not all schools can do this, you have to go through a process and we were fortunate to be able to do that,” he said.

Newman now refers to JCU as a “communiversity” as he wants others to know that it provides more than a regular campus and is a university for the community. “When we say communiversity we want the community to think about us when they think about education. I want them to think more than getting a college degree. As I said in the program we do workforce development, as a matter of fact during summer we have enrichment programs with kids from five years old up to 16, we don’t only give them an opportunity to have recreation but we also have educational opportunities for them,” he said. “If you want to be exposed to anything that is educational, then Jarvis is the place for you, and we want to be that institution in that community.” Now that JCU is a university, the transition means the campus provides graduate degrees to incoming students, which will be starting in January in some fields. During the event, signs all over the campus were unveiled and can now be seen displaying the new name. Newman said the graduates on Saturday will be the first class to graduate from Jarvis Christian University, as their degree will also have the new name change.