CCU Awards Dallas Jenkins an Honorary Doctorate
Colorado Christian University, the leading Christian liberal arts university in the Rocky Mountain region, awarded an honorary doctorate to Dallas Jenkins, the creator, director, and co-writer of The Chosen, a multi-season series depicting the life of Jesus of Nazareth. An honorary doctorate is the highest honor the University bestows on an individual.
"This institution is doing so many great things. I consider it to be a bit of a partnership with The Chosen," said Jenkins. "What I'm trying to do is to get people to know and love Jesus more. Then I hand the baton off to churches, colleges, people like yourself who are taking education seriously and then using that education for ministry. It really means a lot to be honored in this way by such a great institution like Colorado Christian."
CCU Interim President Tim McTavish presented the honorary doctorate in humanities to Jenkins on the set of The Chosen as the series prepared to film its fourth season.
"Dallas Jenkins is a shining example of using his talents to share the love of Christ around the world," said McTavish. "At CCU, our first strategic priority is to honor Christ and share the love of Christ on campus and around the world. Dallas' work with The Chosen does exactly that as he shares the message of Jesus in an approachable and engaging way."
The Chosen portrays the life of Jesus primarily through the eyes of his followers and acquaintances. It is one of the most successful crowd-funded media projects in history, raising over $40 million in initial funding. The series is available to stream for free on the show's platform. An estimated 108 million people had watched at least part of an episode as of November 2022.
"It all started with being educated not only in academics, but in learning how to know and love Jesus more so that I can show others how to know and love Jesus more," said Jenkins. "College isn't the endgame. Adult education isn't the endgame. This is all an opportunity for us to bring people closer to Jesus in whatever field that we're in."