Fresno Pacific University’s president is retiring next summer. Who will replace him?
Fresno Pacific University President Joseph Jones will retire next summer, the university board chair announced Saturday.
Jones has served as the president for nearly five years.
Board Chair Joshua Wilson thanked Jones and his wife, Yvette, for his service.
“We wish them all the best in their future journey and pray for God’s blessing on them,” Wilson said in a statement.
The Jones’ look forward to spending more time with their children and grandchildren, the statement said.
The board is beginning the process to name the next president, but details of the search process including a timeline were not provided.
“Please join our community in prayer that God will grant us wisdom and discernment as we seek his will for leadership,” Wilson said.
The announcement comes in the wake of controversy after university leaders rejected rejected a student petition for a LGBTQ+ campus club.
Jones, an ordained minister, was advised to reject the bid for an LGBTQ+ club because it did not align with the university’s “Confession of Faith,” a theological position consistent with the U.S. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, or USMB, which governs the university through the FPU board of trustees.
Jones has led the campus through the coronavirus pandemic and chose to bring students back to in-person classes in fall 2020 when other area college campuses chose to keep classes remote.
Before taking the helm of Fresno Pacific, Jones was provost of Forman Christian College in Lahore, Pakistan. He’s worked in administrative roles at Christian colleges for about three decades.