Jackson Van Ness, a graduate of the Anderson University School of Public Service and Administration and a new deputy with the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, was honored with the Male Fitness Award during the 151st Session of the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Academy. Van Ness is among 14 graduates of the program, which offers comprehensive training for deputy sheriffs and police officers across Northern Virginia. During the session he was also named class president. 

Following 24 weeks of intensive training at the academy, Van Ness feels a sense of accomplishment and considers the award “the cherry on top of graduation.” 

“I knew that I was in the running for it. I did not know that I was that high on the final standings,” he said. “In our Academy class there were a lot of guys in incredible physical shape—ex-NFL players and Division I football players and a lot of guys who were in the Marines, the Army or military reserves. These guys, they’re just in incredible shape.” 

While he was a junior at Anderson University, Van Ness worked an internship with the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, located just west of Washington, D.C., and came to admire the staff he worked with. 

“They have a really high standard of professionalism and it’s a phenomenal work culture,” he said.  

Van Ness feels his Criminal Justice program at the Anderson University School of Public Service and Administration—learning case law, forensics, policing and computer science—gave him foundational knowledge and confidence that helped him excel in his academy classes. 

“The professors that are teaching you are not just men and women of academia, but they are professionals in law enforcement. They know from first-hand experience,” he said. “Each professor has different experiences and have worked all over the country, and so to take little bits and pieces from each one of them and store it in your own database—it’s something you get AU that I think is really unique and rare.” 

While at Anderson University, Van Ness was also a member of the Trojans Baseball Team and was active with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). He was also named FCA Athlete of the Year in his native Orange County, California.