Sebetha Lee Jenkins (born 1939) is the 10th President of Jarvis Christian University, and the first woman to hold that role.
Eunice was an elementary school principal for 42 years, as well as a community activist, church pianist, seamstress, and counselor.
Jenkins had felt burnt out from teaching English, struggling with the tension between standard grading needs and promoting students' freedom to express themselves and experiment.
She frequently traveled around the state, helping its 80 school districts apply and interpret civil rights directives from the federal government.
[2] In 1978, Jenkins became Coordinator of Title III Programs, Institutional Research, and Affirmative Action at Coahoma Junior College.
The next year, she moved back to Mississippi State University, as the assistant to the Vice President and Director of Minority Affairs from 1979 to 1985.
As Director of Minority Affairs, she oversaw the university's Black Cultural Center and its Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity.
During a 1989 progress report, the university stated that this strategy was working, and a key part was Jenkins's new grass-roots outreach programs.
[2] During this time, she was a board member for the Arthritis Foundation, Akron Community Service Center and Urban League, and Martin Luther King Jr. Festac Institute.
[11] In 2007, the USDA's Rural Development Program presented the college with $13.69 million to aid in renovations and build another new dormitory, which would fit 300 students and include learning spaces.
Some wished she was more involved, but others appreciated her time spent promoting the college, because it had attracted more money and students and resulted in significant improvements.
[13] The board first met with Clinton in 1995, where they talked about increasing funding for HBCUs via Title III and a 1993 executive order, and changing financial aid practices so more students could attend college.
[14] In 2002, Jenkins was named the inaugural chair of the United Negro College Fund Presidents Council, for a two-year term.
[15] During this time, Jenkins also provided consulting services for other organizations, focusing on topics related to education, equal opportunities and rights, due process, and youth issues.
[2] In 1996, Jenkins was inducted into the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame for her contributions in the field of education.
[17] In 2023, Jenkins received the Alexander Campbell Distinguished Service Award from the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for her lifetime of achievement in church-related higher education work.
The press release stated that "Dr. Jenkins-Booker has provided significant and unusually committed service to the cause of church-related higher education.