Craig D. Jessop Chair for Choral Conducting and Community Engagement Endowment

USU’s College of Arts & Sciences is creating an endowed chair, known as the Craig D. Jessop Chair for Choral Conducting and Community Engagement, with a funding target of $3 million that will establish the endowment in perpetuity. Honoring the indelible mark Dr. Jessop has made on the profession of choral conducting at USU, in the state of Utah, the nation, and internationally, the holder of the endowed chair will continue Dr. Jessop’s work with the American Festival Chorus and Orchestra and USU’s Master of Choral Conducting program, both of which he founded.

USU launched the public phase of the campaign on May 24, 2026, and, as of June 2026, $1.6M has already been donated or pledged.

As Dr. Jessop retires as Music Director of the American Festival Chorus and Ochestra at the end of the 2026-27 season and as Professor of Music at USU in June of 2028, we humbly ask that you join us in this effort to honor his legacy and ensure his work continues far into the future.

Gifts to the Craig D. Jessop Endowed Chair may be made through retirement account distributions and other charitable giving vehicles.

Thank you for your help making this endowed chair a reality!

Your gift will be used only for the above-stated purpose if the required minimum endowment level of $3,000,000 is met December 31, 2029.  If not met, the fund will be assessed by the USU Foundation to determine if it is feasible to continue raising funds for the Endowment.

The Endowment will exist in perpetuity.  If circumstances arise that render the stated purpose of the Endowment (as set forth herein) illegal, impractical, impossible, or wasteful (e.g., a change in law, the elimination of a USU program, position, or course of study, the persistent unavailability of scholarship recipients that meet the criteria, etc.); then, as set forth in this Solicitation, under such circumstances and in keeping with Utah Code 51-8-501(1), USU may designate a new purpose for the Endowment.  Any such new purpose shall be defined by USU’s President and College of Arts & Sciences Dean.

The Endowment shall be deposited and invested by the Board of Trustees of USU, through the USU Investment Advisory Committee in accordance with USU’s investment policy.  The USU Foundation is the legal entity designated by USU to receive charitable gifts in support of its academic mission.

Distributions from the Endowment shall be governed by USU’s Endowment Spending Policy. The spending policy calls for an annual distribution up to 5% (currently set at 4%) of the value of the endowment account to be expended per the gift agreement. An additional 1.5% of the endowment value shall be used to fund the administration of the endowment and USU advancement efforts.  All additional gains shall be retained as appreciation and invested along with the corpus to grow the value of the Endowment over time.

By letter dated May 21, 2008, the Internal Revenue Service has declared the USU Foundation (federal tax identification number 87-0627128), to be a duly qualified charitable organization under section 501(c)(3) and also an organization described in sections 509(a)(1) and 170(b)(1)(A)(iv) of the Internal Revenue Code.  The Foundation is a duly chartered active Utah nonprofit corporation, under the provision of Utah Code, Title 16, Chapter 6a.