In 2000, Jacksonville State University president Dr. Bill Meehan celebrated his first year as university president. In honor of being campus president, Meehan and his wife Beth hosted the first JSU in Lights at their home on campus.

Meehan’s wife explains that, “we wanted to do it as a gift to the university. We wanted to be able to say thank you to the faculty, staff, students, and community for everything they do for JSU.”

The 2014 JSU in Lights was last Monday from 4-5:30 p.m. and was hosted by the president, his wife, and their 15-year-old daughter Carol Grace.

Although the event takes place at the president’s campus home and was started by his wife Beth, the president and his wife allowed for JSU in Lights to become a student-led event. Every year, JSU students would ask that attendees bring a toy for children ages 5 to 10 years old, to donate to the Jacksonville Outreach Center.

2014 marked the last year for JSU in Lights, since Meehan will be retiring next year, but the event has become a major community and campus event that the Meehan’s and JSU students hope carries on to the next university president.

If you are moving to Jacksonville to attend JSU next year, you may not be able to be a part of JSU in Lights, but there will be plenty of opportunities to join the university and community initiatives to give back and ring in the holiday season.

If you will be moving to the JSU campus, All My Sons Moving & Storage can help make your move easy and stress-free, so that you can embark on your academic adventure at JSU.