It is a long way from chopping cotton in the Mississippi Delta to the President’s Office at Jarvis Christian University. However, both places require hard work, persistence and introspection. 

For Jarvis President Glenell Lee-Pruitt, the brief time spent in the arduous labor of chopping cotton – which is the process of removing the weeds among cotton rows by using a hoe – helped to form her intense desire to learn.

“In our family, the choice was simple, you either went to work or you went to get an education,” she stated. No doubt the experiences in the cotton fields provided impetus to stay in school. 

That extra push toward higher education likely was not needed. As long as she can remember, her parents had talked to her about education and how vitally important it was for her future. 

Her father was an African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church preacher and her mother a cafeteria worker at the local school.

The two raised their daughter with high expectations, communicating one message over and over. That message was simply, ‘We believe in you.’

Those sentiments propelled Lee-Pruitt to Jackson State University and a follow-on masters degree program at Temple University. 

While the attractions of youth may have temporarily separated her from her churchly upbringing, there were signs that she was headed back to the church.

On a road trip from Jackson to New Orleans, Lee-Pruitt received her first calling.

“It was as clear as day,” she explained, “I was driving down the highway and had a brief conversation with God. I was being called, but I wasn’t ready.”

As can happen, it was a series of life events which drew her back to the church. With a young daughter and a flourishing professional career, the second calling was more direct.

“Glenell, it’s time,” the voice spoke.

“You aren’t going to leave me alone, are you?” she replied. She knew the answer already.

As Lee-Pruitt recalled the event, she smiled and said, “It says in the Bible, ‘my sheep will know my voice.’  

By this point, Lee-Pruitt had accumulated a lengthy record of success in the field of social work, first at Jackson State Hospital, then at Riverside Hospital as well as in private practice.

She transitioned to the field of education and joined the staff at Mississippi Valley State University. 

When she accepted her calling, the first person she notified was her mom back home. She recalled her mother’s words, “I knew my baby had it in her!”

School, at this juncture, meant time at Payne Theological Seminary in Wilberforce, Ohio. Following her studies, Lee-Pruitt went before an examination board of AME pastors.

That board included a Reverent Jordan of Shaw, Miss., who remembered Lee-Pruitt as a little girl in her father’s church.

Jordan spoke in favor of Lee-Pruitt saying, “This woman had the mark in her when she was a little girl.”

Ordination also began a bi-vocational life for Lee-Pruitt. Only in 2023 (after 25 years as an AME pastor and upon being named as the 13th President at Jarvis) did she leave the pulpit.   

Lee-Pruitt is no stranger to Jarvis Christian. She spent the last decade as the provost and vice president for academic affairs.

She had followed the previous president, Dr. Lester C. Newman, to Jarvis from Mississippi Valley State.

There was likely no person better suited to transition Jarvis from a college to a university than Lee-Pruitt. The primary difference between the two is that a university offers graduate-level education in addition to undergraduate programs. 

Jarvis Christian University now offers accredited graduate programs in business administration and criminal justice. There are about 50 students in the two courses of study.    

Jarvis is accredited through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. The organization is a long-standing certifying authority which accredits institutions of higher learning from Virginia, through the south, to Texas.    

Lee-Pruitt commented, “The whole process took about two years, and we are still in the middle of a huge public relations push to highlight that Jarvis is now a university.”

As if to offer an example of how difficult it is to change one’s perception of things, Lee-Pruitt noted that Texas College was in town to play Jarvis in basketball later that evening. On the Texas College basketball schedule Jarvis is still listed as Jarvis College, not Jarvis Christian University.  

In addition to the recent accreditation, Jarvis has also just completed a 10-year Quality Education Plan. Lee-Pruitt admits that she is presently in the middle of a philosophical argument about the future of higher education. 

“It is like an epic debate between W.E.B. Dubois and Booker T. Washington about the future of higher education,” Lee-Pruitt said.

Liberal arts universities must adapt and change in order to survive, and there are strong opinions in the education community of just how they must change, she noted. 

“It is a bit of reading the tea leaves,” she said. She also reassured that Jarvis is developing partnerships which will strengthen the institution of the university as well as expand the scope and impact of its teaching. Lee-Pruitt hinted that there will be some new initiatives at the university soon.

She also shared a sincere desire to grow closer ties between Jarvis and the local communities.

“We have been a part of Wood County for a long time,” she said, “and we need to strengthen those ties. We welcome folks to come see our university.”   

Seated in her office under a drawing of AME founder Richard Allen and a photograph of Malcolm X, Lee-Pruitt spoke of the major influences of her life: the example of her parents, the challenges of social work, the empathy of pastoring, the hope of education and the foundation of faith. 

Thus armed, the future of Jarvis Christian University should be something to witness.