A white couple whose families had owned slaves—Major James Jarvis and his wife Ida Van Zandt Jarvis—donated land upon which the school could be built; the Jarvis family deeded 456 acres (185 ha) to the Christian Women's Board of Missions on the condition it be maintained as a school for Blacks.

[7] Jarvis is the only historically black college which remains of the twelve founded by the Disciples of Christ Church.

[8] Jarvis' first students were educated in the remains of an old logging camp and later in a cabin which became the school's first multi-purpose building.

[10] The executive committee of the National Women's Board voted in May 1915, to appropriate US$1,000 (equivalent to $30,118 in 2023) for a sawmill that was purchased and installed on campus.

The Emma B. Smith Building, used to house administration offices, was built in 1936 and is the only campus structure surviving from the Ervin presidency.

[7] In 1938, Peter Clarence Washington began his tenure as the second president of Jarvis Christian College.

[7] Sebetha Lee Jenkins became the 10th president of Jarvis Christian College in 1991, and the first woman to hold that position.

[11] In May 2017, it was announced that Jarvis Christian College will open a satellite campus in Dallas at the Redbird Mall beginning August 2017.

Jarvis Christian competes in 15 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, soccer, track and field (outdoor) and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, track & field (outdoor), volleyball and wrestling.

The following sports will be added, effective in the 2022–23 school year: men's & women's wrestling, and co-ed competitive cheerleading called the "J Squad".

Jarvis houses a regional collection of biological specimens in its 10,000 square foot Frost Hall.