Luke 12:48 and Jenkins Family Credo
After a chance meeting in 1964 while students at the University of Michigan, James and Anita Jenkins have spent their lives together as philanthropists and community leaders. Through 56 years of marriage, they had two children, led successful careers in law, and contributed to their communities through professional and nonprofit board service. In 2011, they established their foundation, the James R. and Anita Jenkins Family Foundation, to “stand in the gap” by supporting education and literacy, veteran assistance, disaster relief, organizational viability, and faith-based arts and culture in underprivileged, marginalized and underserved communities.
James is the retired senior vice president and general counsel for Deere & Co. and the retired vice president and general counsel for Dow Corning. Anita is the former assistant attorney general for the State of Michigan and a retired tax attorney for Dow.
James and Anita’s philanthropy has been inspired by their faith, the examples set by their families, and the college support they and their children received. While discussing their dedication to philanthropy and giving, Anita said, “Our families subscribed to Luke 12:48, ‘From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”
The Jenkinses have supported SVSU as donors since the late 1980s. In 2015, they set up their own named scholarship at SVSU, the James R. and Anita H. Jenkins Scholarship for Student Success. Since then, they have supported students who have an awareness of African American and/or Native American culture as well as a demonstrated commitment to inclusion and diversity. To encourage students to persevere until they earn their degrees, this scholarship is renewable for up to four years if students maintain at least a minimum 2.0 grade point average.
The Jenkins scholarship has helped shape the lives of 38 SVSU students over the past 10 years through a total of $79,000 in scholarship support. For the current 2024-25 academic year, 14 deserving students received support from this scholarship.
Wickes Hall 398