Since the founding of Jones College in 1911, the college has tried to update its campaign every so often to better connect with the Jones community, and this year the campaign is, “I Am JC.”
Over the years many people of different backgrounds have come together to be a part of the Jones family. Each person who comes to Jones brings their own personalized perspective to the statement “I Am JC.”
“We are all JC,” Emily Sullivan, assistant dean of students, said. “If you’ve come to JC, if you plan to come to JC, if you’ve worked at JC, then you are a part of this family. You’re a part of the history of this school.”
As part of the campaign, the Jones marketing department created a video showcasing different people at Jones telling their own Jones stories. Members of the marketing team spoke on the video as well as people who have had life-long experiences with Jones.
The video was meant to focus on the people that make up Jones and their experiences with the college. It also shows the diversity of the Jones family with people from different countries and backgrounds. Each person in the video defines what the campaign “I Am JC” means to them.
Feelings are evoked when people hear the name Jones College. The name Jones College makes Sullivan think of excellence, community, family and history, and she is not the only one. Mary Boleware, physics and engineering instructor at Jones College, also feels a sense of family when she thinks of Jones College. As a child, her father, Elmer Higginbotham, was the football and baseball coach at Jones while her mother, Sandra Higginbotham, taught business technology at Jones. Boleware grew up on the campus. Jones gave her a family, a home and lifelong friends. Boleware gained a love for everything maroon and gold, a need to beat Pearl River and the inspiration to become an instructor, like the ones she had when she attended the college.
“It was really all I ever knew. I never considered not coming to Jones,” Boleware said.
Of course, Boleware is not the only person who spent their childhood at Jones. Many faculty and students grew up attending the Jones childcare program, a place where Jones employees can drop off their children while at work.
“I remember back when I was young, the JC staff was very nice and treated me like family,” sophomore Davis Brown, who attended the childcare program, said. “So, I knew that I would feel at home when I came back to Jones [to attend as a student].”
Brown’s father, Mark Brown, works as a professor of visual arts at Jones College. To Davis Brown, the campaign “I Am JC” means taking pride in his accomplishments and the place that helped him get there. Brown said his experiences with the college have shaped him and his future.
“When I first came here I wasn’t sure about engineering, but after talking to the faculty and the engineering department, there is no doubt in my mind that that is what I want to do with my career,” Brown said.
After Jones, Brown plans to attend Mississippi State and get his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, but he will not forget Jones.
“I could see myself coming back to Jones, as some kind of science professor, after I retire,” Brown said.
Jones College, started as an agricultural high school and community college attended by 26 students, now is a college that impacts thousands of students every year. The campaign, “I Am JC,” was a way to fully encompass everyone that makes up the school.
“I think it will have a positive impact on the college,” Sullivan said. “I also think that it is going to bring back a lot of alumni that have feelings about “I Am JC” and their time here. I think that is the goal of it, to reach former Jones students, future Jones students and current Jones students.”
by Haley Shepherd
