Oral History Project
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Role
President and Chancellor
Description
Grounds of Cedarville College, near the former James T. Jeremiah chapel
Media Type
Video
Interview Date
cir 1994
Interview Duration
8:48
Years of Service
1953-2000
Keywords
Cedarville, history, Jeremiah
Publisher
Cedarville University
Interview Location
Cedarville, Ohio, United States of America
Disciplines
Higher Education
Recommended Citation
Jeremiah, James T., "James T. Jeremiah" (1994). Oral History Project. 10.
https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/oral_histories/10
Comments
Dr. James T. Jeremiah graduated from Baptist Bible Seminary in Johnson City, New York, in 1936, and served in pastorates in Panama, New York; Toledo, Ohio; and Dayton, Ohio. It was while serving in Dayton that Dr. Jeremiah became aware of the plight of Cedarville College in Cedarville, Ohio, whose trustees in 1953 were looking for a merger with another institution or another group to assume the responsibility for the College, given it was on the verge of closing. At the same time, the Baptist Bible Institute of Cleveland was searching for another property to which they could move to ease overcrowding and to expand to a four-year college program. Dr. Jeremiah's service on the Board of Trustees of the Baptist Bible Institute and his awareness of the availability of the Cedarville College campus led him to be instrumental in the decision by Baptist Bible Institute of Cleveland to merge with Cedarville College, taking over an institution with declining enrollments and increasing debt.
Under Dr. Jeremiah's leadership as president, the College began the transformation from a struggling school to an accredited institution of higher learning respected for its graduates, programs, faculty, and facilities. College enrollment steadily increased during Dr. Jeremiah's tenure, reaching more than 1200 by the mid-1970s. This transformation of the institution also included the expansion and development of the campus with major new facilities being constructed and additional land being purchased for future growth.
Dr. Jeremiah stepped down as president in 1978 and assumed the role of Chancellor, which he held until his death in August, 2000. The Jeremiah Chapel in the Dixon Ministry Center is named in honor of Dr. James T. Jeremiah.
In this video, recorded for the purposes of using clips from it in other video productions, Dr. Jeremiah discusses the building of the former chapel, now the Apple Technology Resource Center, in the 1970s and his hopes and support for the new chapel, the Dixon Ministry Center, in the 1990s.