Statement from the President to Alumni and Community

These are challenging times in higher education. From coast to coast colleges and universities are making difficult decisions. Every year there is news about degree programs ending, academic departments being cut and even colleges closing. In these times it is imperative that Jacksonville College best position itself for long term success and sustainability.

When I began as president last August, I immediately initiated a review of all programs here at Jacksonville College, based on work that was already ongoing under the leadership of Interim President John Mann, Administrative Vice President Jodye Jay, Vice President of Student Leadership Danny Long, and Vice President of Property George Baker. We evaluated our programs according to how they contribute to the mission of Jacksonville College to provide affordable, accessible, accredited Christian education and how they contribute to the financial stability and long-term prospects of the school.

To position Jacksonville College for a brighter future requires that our athletic programs be revenue producing. The simple reality is that the tuition and fees our student athletes bring in must cover their educational expenses, their room and board expenses, and the operational expenses of their sport. Our golf, tennis, soccer, cross-country and track and field teams combined brought an average of 116 full time students to the college and failed to cover all relevant expenses by $2,000 in 2023. To break it down, for every golfer, tennis player, soccer player, cross country runner or track and field athlete, we lost $17.25 last year. By contrast, the basketball program brought an average of 26 full time students and failed to cover its relevant expenses by $150,000 in 2023. That is, for every basketball player who donned a uniform last year we lost $5,730.

Every dollar we lose on athletics, we have to raise from churches and individual donors just to maintain current operations. It is not wise stewardship of our resources to continue losing $150,000 a year on the basketball program. Maintaining money losing programs also makes it difficult, maybe even impossible, to move the college toward a better future. We considered options for continuing basketball, including changing divisions, but these failed to produce sufficient savings. We also considered whether we might be able to find an angel donor who would cover the $150,000 per year losses, but in reality we need a $4 million endowment just to finance basketball operations long-term. We do not have a realistic path to raising such an endowment quickly.

Faced with these facts, after lengthy consideration and a great deal of prayer, I recommended to the board of trustees that we suspend basketball. After much discussion and thoughtful consideration, the board of trustees decided to suspend Jacksonville College’s participation in men's and women's basketball at the end of the 2023-2024 basketball season. This suspension will last for several years before being reconsidered. During this time, the college will be focused on increasing its percentage of students who are not participating in athletic programs.

The suspension of basketball here at Jacksonville College is a very bitter pill to swallow for those of us who have a long history and a great love for this school. Basketball has been played at Jacksonville College for as long as any of us can remember. Since 1912, the dribbling of basketballs and the swishing of hoops has been a consistent part of campus life. Many of us have fond memories from Jacksonville College basketball games. We have won
championships here at Jacksonville College. We have seen great players such as Herbert Johnson, Carl Herrera, and many others play on our court.

Since I have become president, I have heard from numerous former players who came here to play ball, but left having found the Savior who has guided their life ever since. I would love to see basketball continue long-term at Jacksonville College. The only financially feasible path forward to that goal is to suspend basketball now, invest our resources in current and future revenue producing programs, and then determine if we can reinstate basketball in a revenue neutral or revenue producing way.

Ultimately, we must remember that Jacksonville College is a Christian institution. We exist to serve God’s kingdom and Christ’s churches. We do that by giving our students the foundation for a meaningful life that can only be found in our Lord so that they can then transform churches, communities, and the world. We will continue to fulfill our mission.

The history of Jacksonville College has many chapters. There have been good times and there have been hard times, years of plenty and years of scraping by. Now we are writing a new chapter at JBC, but that means we have to turn the page on the last chapter. I expect this new chapter to be one of restoration, renewal, and, I hope, revival. I believe there is a great future for Jacksonville College. There are better days ahead for this school and our future students. With the support of our alumni and our sponsoring churches, we will get there.