Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have provided and continue to provide excellence in higher education, especially to African American students. Prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1965, institutions of higher learning in the United States routinely barred African American students from attending. Those schools that did accept African American students tended to have quota systems, severely limiting access. HBCUs were founded after the civil war to provide African Americans with quality higher education, and today over 100 still exist.
Two HBCUs, Jarvis Christian College in Hawkins, Texas, and Tougaloo College in Tougaloo, Mississippi, are affiliated with the Disciples. HELM celebrates these relationships and the continued influence that these schools have on students, graduates, their communities, and our nation. For Additional information, click on the links below to read more about their history, academic offerings, and the exciting programs they offer.
Jarvis Christian College
Jarvis Christian College began as Jarvis Christian Institute, modeled after the Southern Christian Institute in Edwards, Mississippi. Formal instruction began as early in 1913 after Major James Jarvis and his wife, Ida Van Zandt Jarvis, donated 456 acres to the Christian Women’s Board of Missions with the understanding that a school would be built to provide quality education to African American children. During the first few years, elementary and high school classes were offered, with the first college-level courses beginning in 1916. In 1928, the school incorporated as a college with the state of Texas granting a formal charter to Jarvis Christian College in 1939.
Jarvis Christian College has a long history of providing students with not just an excellent education but also the intellectual, social, and spiritual foundations to prepare them for the future. Under the leadership of current President Lester C. Newman, who has served since 2012, the number of degree programs, faculty, and athletic teams has grown. Today, Jarvis Christian College has over 900 students and offers majors in 13 different areas of study. In addition, the college has a satellite campus in Dallas and a partnership with the University of Texas in Tyler.
For more information on Jarvis Christian College, please click here. To learn about all fifteen of the Disciple affiliated colleges and universities affiliated, click here.
Tougaloo College
Tougaloo College traces its founding to the purchase of 500 acres outside Jackson, Mississippi in 1869 by the American Missionary Association of New York. The land was purchased to establish a school for the education of former slaves and their descendants. In 1871, Tougaloo University received its charter, initially providing elementary education as well as a “normal” school offering teacher training. The first college credit courses were offered in 1897 and the first Bachelor of Arts degree was awarded in 1901. In 1916, the school changed its name to Tougaloo College.
The Disciples’ relationship to Tougaloo College is connected to the founding of the Southern Christian Institute by the Home Missionary Society of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in 1882. SCI, located in Edwards, Mississippi, served black students during the Jim Crow era and trained several generations of African American educators, clergy and other leaders. In 1954, the Southern Christian Institute merged with Tougaloo College and continued its central mission of education, while also playing a critical role in advancing the cause of justice during the Civil Right Movement.
Tougaloo College is regularly ranked as one of the top schools in the Southeast. In the state of Mississippi, the school has historically produced over 40% of the practicing African American physicians and dentists, and more than one-third of the state’s African American attorneys. The school’s current president, Dr. Carmen J. Walters, maintains a commitment to academic excellence as well as continuing the school’s legacy of standing for social justice. Today, Tougaloo College has an enrollment of over 700 students, offers degrees in 29 majors, and has established partnerships and exchange programs with a number of universities, including New York University, Brown University, Bowdoin College, and the School of Medicine at both Boston University and the University of Buffalo.
For more information on Tougaloo College, please click here. To learn about all fifteen of the Disciple affiliated colleges and universities affiliated, click here.