For School of Divinity Alumna Jackie L. Williams, Rankin Chapel Is Her Heart and Treasure

By Kelvin Childs

For Jackie L. Williams (’19, PhD), the Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel became a haven for her in Washington even before she enrolled at Howard University. When she moved to the District of Columbia, two goals were foremost: “Seek out a place of worship and engage with an HBCU. Rankin Chapel fulfilled those two goals and opened their doors for me to serve.”

Ever since, Williams – founding director of the Office of Rural Housing and Economic Development at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – has been a supporter of Rankin and the School of Divinity. She also serves as Chair of the Economic Development Cluster for the HBCU Federal Interagency Working Group under the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Early on, she told Rankin’s dean, the Rev. Bernard L. Richardson, PhD, “‘I don’t have a lot to give,’ I said, ‘but I want to give something.’ And that was my first conversation with him because I just didn’t know how to approach him. At the time, I wasn’t an alum of Howard, I didn’t know what I could do to serve or to help. And so, I began giving $1,000. I was done with my PhD and had a little extra money that I could give, and that’s what I chose to do.”

She continued, “And when I had that conversation with Dean Richardson, I said, ‘You know, I’m just going to give but I want to be an angel. I don’t expect any recognition. I want to help because I believe in what the chapel does in terms of the life of the students, and what it does as a national HBCU pulpit.’ I continued to do that.”

She soon joined Friends of Rankin Chapel, which “is open to any individual who wants to support and give back to the University,” Williams said. “And so, they opened their doors to me. I began giving to Rankin Chapel before I was enrolled at the School of Divinity.” She is also a past chair of the Friends of Rankin Chapel.

Williams earned a post-doctoral master of arts in religious studies/ethics and social justice from the School of Divinity. She also has a bachelor of science in computer science, a master of science in educational administration and supervision and a PhD in public policy and administration – urban management/program management from Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities are “in my DNA,” Williams said. Not only because of her education at Jackson State and Howard; her mother, grandmother and aunts all attended Tougaloo College in Tougaloo, Mississippi. Her grandmother was a civil-rights activist and president of the PTA at the Black-only school in Madison, Mississippi, prior to integration, and one of her aunts was the first Black teacher in the Jackson public school system. Williams herself took piano lessons at Tougaloo at age 9 and went on to become executive director for two community/university-based entities at Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi.

She said, “I was born into a family who saw education as a priority and lifting, especially people of color in the state of Mississippi or in any community throughout the nation, as a way of moving forward. So, it’s a part of my lifestyle.”

Although her professional career has been in economic development and community development, she said “God’s calling led me to the School of Divinity. That was a path to help me continue my family’s legacy of teaching and preaching,” like her grandfather, who was a minister although he was not pastor of a church. As an ordained minister, Williams is a member and preacher at Fresh Start Christian Church in Jackson, Mississippi.

She said, “The School of Divinity helped me realize my calling and ministry in sacred spaces and the public square, including transforming my 35 years as an economic and community development leader to serving God's people from the pulpit to the academy, to local, national and global communities.”

And because of that, Williams gives. “From a scriptural perspective, ‘Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be’; that's Matthew 6:21. I’m filled up, so my heart is in, that’s a treasure for me to donate. Rankin Chapel poured into me. And in return, I want to pour into Rankin Chapel my gift.”

She continued, “Alums should pour back into HU what was poured into them. It supports the legacy of Howard for years to come. By allowing the generation of students behind them to stand on our shoulders of giving, serving as an example of giving and investing into the future, the future of HU. No matter the amount, small or big, it makes a difference in the lives of the students, even if it’s only one student.”