Letter from the President
Life is not a straight line and neither is our institutional history. I often think of Jessup University in terms of “versions.” Jessup 1.0 was San Jose Bible College from 1939-1989, our formative and foundational era. Jessup 2.0 was San Jose Christian College from 1989-2004 where we were refining and defining our ultimate trajectory in terms of location and direction. Jessup 3.0 was from 2004-2015 when we relocated to Rocklin, weathered the economic ups and downs, and then in 2011 began adding math, sciences, and arts beyond music. Jessup 4.0 began in 2015 and we added graduate programs, online and bolstered international student programs.
Today, Jessup is advancing to the next level. In the pages that follow, you will read stories of our big, holy audacious goals being lived out in real time. Jessup is embracing and extending our mission through venture capital, artificial intelligence as well as international and online platforms. Jessup arts and athletics are continuing to scale new heights and our aviation program is literally soaring!
What does all this mean for Jessup and for our community? The alumni stories you are reading in this issue could not have occurred at any phase in our past. Previous versions of Jessup included dreams of community impact that we are now experiencing in measures beyond our previous hopes. Further, we are about to see the Lord moving Jessup into completely new aspects of transformation and influence in our culture. We have long dreamed of having Jessup move into new dimensions of expanded impact for the glory of God in business, education, health care, mental health and ministry.
So what is this next level? The next level is where Jessup moves to implement the hopes and dreams of previous generations in real-time. Because the love of Christ compels us, our mission is to partner with the Church to educate transformational leaders for the glory of God. This next level will bring the glory of God to families, churches, business, schools, hospitals, arts and media, and virtually everywhere the people of God will go.
Recently I have been talking a lot about “legacy now.” The next level is part of our legacy now. It is about being able to see the hand of God moving in front of our eyes. When you pray for Jessup, give to Jessup and support Jessup by encouraging people to attend Jessup, you are participating in the next level. You are helping to create the legacy of Jessup in our culture for now and for the future. Next level is about the “God-sized” future that is being birthed right now and you are helping to write the story.
Read this magazine issue and know that you are part of His-story right now!
Blessings,
John Jackson, Ph.D.
