Josh Jacobs loved being a college student so much that he finished the requirements for a biology major on the pre-med track in just three years. When he realized that his scholarship allowed him to keep studying for a fourth year, he used this year of freedom to explore a new minor in political science—as well as many other new disciplines and ways of thinking. “I loved learning,” Jacobs explains, “and I audited a full schedule.” These explorations eventually led him to a new path in state government and, ultimately, higher education.
Four years after graduating, having already served in the offices of two governors, Jacobs found a role working under the Illinois State Superintendent of Education Randy Dunn. When Dunn was hired to be President of Murray State University, he asked Jacobs to come along. “Here was my chance to go back to college,” says Jacobs. “I loved it.”
Eighteen years later, Jacobs still loves working for universities. Last July, he was appointed to a dual role as Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement both for Antioch University and for the Coalition for the Common Good. He comes to Antioch with a strong track record as a university fundraiser. In his previous job, he re-started Marietta College’s stalled capital campaign during the COVID-19 pandemic and successfully completed the $100 million comprehensive campaign on schedule. Now, he is working to build out both Antioch’s and the Coalition’s fundraising capabilities.
Jacobs has visited all of Antioch’s campuses and met with dozens of Antioch faculty, staff, and administrators. In this photo, he poses in front of garden beds with Libby McCann, who is Core Faculty in Environmental Studies and the cofounder of Community Garden Connections
“I want to create systems and processes that allow us to be as effective and efficient as possible in connecting people’s passion with the needs of our institution,” he says. “I often say that money is a byproduct of our authentic relationships. Our goal is to build relationships and create value for our alumni and our prospects. Gifts are a fortunate outcome of doing the other things well.”
He was drawn to this job in large part because he loves higher education—and he wants to help build a sustainable model for smaller institutions to thrive in the coming years and decades. To this end, the challenge of helping build out the Coalition for the Common Good—the university system founded in 2023 by Antioch and its partner Otterbein University—was especially exciting. “This was an opportunity to make a significant change in an industry that I care deeply about,” he says, “while helping an institution that has a really clear purpose secure resources to execute its mission.”
Jacobs, who from his political days has friends deeply committed to both sides of the political spectrum, says that in his view, “Social justice shouldn’t be partisan.” And much of his work thinking through how to bring donors and foundations into the work of Antioch and the Coalition has involved trying to create openings for people to find a common purpose in making education more accessible and more efficiently delivered to students.
In this attempt to bring many sides together, Jacobs echoes his father’s work. When Jacobs was a teenager, his father, a Presbyterian pastor, learned that the Ku Klux Klan planned to hold a celebration in their town. “My father led cross-community coalitions fighting the KKK,” says Jacobs. “He worked with all of the churches in town, regardless of race, affiliation, or denomination, to create a unified front to prevent the KKK from coming back to celebrate their roots in our community.”
Jacobs says, “My desire to give back, that desire to serve, was inspired by my father and my mother.” Today, in his own way, Jacobs is working to bring people of diverse viewpoints together to accomplish something meaningful.
