By Liam Adams
Nashville-based National Baptist Convention, U.S.A. is the nation’s largest Black Protestant group. Total membership is estimated as high as $7.5M.
- American Baptist College, widely known for its legacy within the Civil Rights movement, is navigating significant change as longtime former president Forrest Harris, Sr. retires.
- College appointed Rev. Derrick Jackson, chief executive for publisher in same denomination as American Baptist, to interim role in July.
- Jackson’s hiring as college’s 11th president will encounter pressures of institution’s identity, challenges with enrollment, and diversifying sources of income.
American Baptist College named area religious publishing executive Rev. Derrick Jackson as its 11th president, transitioning Jackson into a permanent role after the historic Nashville institution appointed him interim head in July.
Jackson succeeds former president Forrest Harris, Sr., who retired after a 26-year tenure at the faith-based institution that’s widely known for its legacy within the Civil Rights movement. The college is trying to balance preserving its faith-based, social justice-focused education with meeting market demands to attract nontraditional students and diversify sources of income.
“Nashville needs ABC, and so does the country and the world,” Jackson said in an Aug. 20 news release. “I’m thankful for the work of our former president, Forrest Harris, and look forward to continuing the momentum around the energy and synergy already in place.”
Jackson’s business acumen was especially appealing to the board, which considered 25 other applicants over recent months.
Jackson, also the lead pastor at First Baptist Church in Gallatin, will continue to serve as American Baptist president and as the executive director for the Sunday School Publishing Board. Both American Baptist and the Sunday School Publishing Board are affiliated with the National Baptist Convention, USA, the nation’s largest Black Protestant denomination.
The convention and Sunday School Publishing Board operate out of the Baptist World Center, adjacent to American Baptist’s campus.
NBCUSA president Rev. Boise Kimber, a Connecticut pastor, celebrated Jackson’s hiring and how it could strengthen cohesion within the denomination and across its affiliated agencies, or entities. Jackson is to Kimber’s knowledge the first person to simultaneously serve as the chief executive for multiple NBCUSA-affiliated entities.
“It’s a high demand and he’s going to make it even higher by bridging the gap between the Sunday School Publishing Board, the convention, and the school,” Kimber said in an Aug. 20 interview. “We are sitting in between what is and what is to come.”
American Baptist is nationally known for its students in the 1960s who helped organize the Nashville Sit-In movement and then became Civil Rights heroes. Those alumni include Rep. John Lewis, Julius Scruggs, Bernard Lafayette, Jim Bevels, William Barbee, and the Revs. Kelly Miller Smith and C.T. Vivian.
Enrollment today is about a third of the college’s peak in 2015, according to most recent data published by the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.
American Baptist is one of Nashville’s four historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU), and its designation as an HBCU in 2013 brought in new federal grant funding for the institution. Declining enrollment and less reliance on tuition revenue led Harris’ administration to seek more grant funding, which helped cover operational expenses but also inspired new partnerships between the college and community organizations.
The Sunday School Publishing Board has been among the more successful business enterprises within the National Baptist Convention, USA. It organizes an annual conference in Nashville that draws patrons from across the U.S. and who represent different denominations. The NBCUSA has long maintained close ties with the Sunday School Publishing Board, but that same relationship between the convention and American Baptist soured in 2017 following a lawsuit.
Kimber took steps following his installation as the NBCUSA’s top administrator to begin reconciling the denomination’s relationship with American Baptist. Kimber is encouraged more than ever about that endeavor with the news of Jackson’s hiring.
“He (Jackson) is a great choice for the healing of the school and the convention’s relationship,” Kimber said. “He’s mild mannered, very smart, very intelligent, very calm, but he knows what to do and how to get the work done.”
The National Baptist Convention is convening in Kansas City starting Sept. 7 for its week-long annual session.
