Belize Adventist Junior College

Belize Adventist Junior College (BAJC) is the first co-educational Christian tertiary institution owned and operated under the leadership of the Belize Union of Seventh-day Adventist Churches with license to operate from the Government of Belize.¹ It was founded in 1999.

The Belize Adventist Junior College was established by the Union of Churches in Belize in the northern district of Corozal in the village of Calcutta. The institution serves the country’s Adventist community of 48,744 members organized into one hundred and two churches,² and receives students from five Adventist high schools and other high school graduates from Belize and abroad who are willing to adhere to its Christian environment.

History

In the late 1990s, the Seventh-day Adventist community in Belize asked the president of the Belize Union Mission, Dennis Slusher, to work towards the establishment of a junior college.³ The principal and staff of the Belize Adventist Academy, a secondary school in Calcutta, Corozal, Belize, met with the area representative of government, Florencio Marin, Sr. and the minister of education, Cordel Hyde, to discuss the possibility of establishing a tertiary education institution. The plans continued to grow as President Dennis Slusher and other mission staff met with Government officials to finalize the request.⁴

During a grand opening ceremony on September 6, 1999, Belize Adventist Junior College opened its doors to provide tertiary education.⁵ John Parchment of the Central American Union; Cordel Hyde, Belize minister of education; Florencio Marin, Sr., area representative; Dennis Slusher, general manager of Adventist schools; and Abilio Cima, mission treasurer presided over the ceremony.⁶

In the beginning, the junior college shared a campus with Belize Adventist College, using their infrastructure. By December of 2003, a construction committee of five members, headed by Alfredo Olivarez, was chartered to work on a site plan and the construction of facilities.⁷

Under the guidance of Aquilino Jesse and a contractor, Benjamin McCulloch, Sr., the first phase of the building began. Through the assistance of the Rocky Mountain Conference in the United States, Belize Adventist Junior College completed construction its first structure in March 2008. The work was executed by a group of missionary volunteers by Orlando Magaña, Pete Brahman, Joe Martin, James Lynch, and Bill Hayes, supported by volunteers from Campion Academy in Colorado, United States, as well as others.⁸

The Rocky Mountains Conference completed fourteen rooms to be used for office and classrooms, a chapel building, started by Maranatha Volunteers, and initiated the construction of a library building. Another missionary group from the Auburn Seventh-day Adventist Church in California led by David Carreon, helped complete the project in 2008.

By January 7, 2008, the first two classrooms were in a ceremony, which included Patrick Faber, minister of education; Dennis Slusher, Belize Union Mission president; Florencio Marin, Sr., former minister of government; and other stakeholders.⁹ The junior college commenced classes with fifty-two students and three programs. It has since doubled its enrollment and offers eight programs of study.¹⁰

As of 2017, the Belize Adventist Junior College had graduated 617 students who were making a difference in their communities and churches. The institution’s slogan, “Christian Education Making a difference in Academic Excellence in the 21^st Century,” is best exemplified in its mission, vision, and values.

Mission: The Belize Adventist Junior College provides students with life-long learning in a Christian setting. It seeks to develop a united community in which staff and students work and study together to establish a relationship with God, to share Jesus Christ and His everlasting gospel through service to mankind, and to develop respect for our fellowmen. It also seeks to encourage physical labor as an integral part of learning and to cultivate critical thinkers.

Vision: Learning for today, for Service tomorrow, and Character for eternity.

Values: Commitment, Integrity, Spirituality, Honesty, Transparency, Caring.¹¹

Projection for Growth

The Belize Adventist Junior College’s strategic location is uniquely positioned for growth in student enrollment and programs in areas that fulfill its mission to prepare workers to share the message of salvation.

List of Deans

Raul Clarke (1999-2000); Aquilino Jesse (2000-2004); Sylvia Perez (2004-2007); Joel Clarke (2007-present)

Sources

Belize Adventist Junior College Manual. 2014-2018.

Belize Adventist Junior College website. “About Us.” Accessed April 5, 2022. http://www.bajc.edu.bz/about.html.

Coe, Ellis. The Journey of the Church Then and Now. Chetumal, Q. Roo: 2006.

Inauguration Program, January 7, 2008, Belize Adventist Junior College Archives.

Belize Adventist Junior College School Board. Belize Adventist Junior College Archives.

“Belize Union Mission.” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (2021), https://www.adventistyearbook.org/entity?EntityID=13997.

Notes

1. Belize Adventist Junior College website, “About Us,” accessed April 5, 2022, http://www.bajc.edu.bz/about.html.↩

2. “Belize Union Mission,” statistics for June 30, 2021, Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (2021), https://www.adventistyearbook.org/entity?EntityID=13997.↩

3. Belize Adventist Junior College Student Manual 2014-2015, 6.↩

4. Ellis Coe, The Journey of the Church Then and Now (Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico: n. p., 2006), 28-29.↩

5. Belize Adventist Junior College Student Manual, 2016-2017, 6.↩

6. Coe, 28.↩

7. Belize Adventist Junior College, School Board, December 18, 2003, vote 18-03; Belize Adventist Junior College Archives.↩

8. Belize Adventist Junior College School Board, March 13, 2008, Vote 12-08, Belize Adventist Junior College Archives.↩

9. Inauguration Program, January 7, 2008, Belize Adventist Junior College Archives.↩

10. Coe, 28.↩

11. Belize Adventist Junior College Student Manual, 2017-2018, 7-8.↩