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Jack Woodward:
Alumnus of the Year by Jerry Sheldon, Class of 1967 M y first conversation with Jack Woodward was in the spring of 1965. Millsaps College had just offered me a Diamond Anniversary Basketball Scholar- ship that covered tuition and fees. However, my summer job would only render about $500 in savings, which would only be enough to cover books, some spending money, and a few trips back to my home in Kentucky. I needed even more assistance and Profes- sor Hardin, who was the Registrar at the time, put me in contact with Jack Woodward. I don’t remember his exact words to me but I can paraphrase his response with, “Come on down Jerry . . . we’ll find a way.” With those reassuring words from a man I had never met, I packed my 1957 Pontiac and headed South, only to return to the Bluegrass State for an occasional visit. I arrived on the Millsaps campus that fall and joined the Kappa Sigma Fraternity which seemed to be an organization that contained more than its fair share of students who needed Jack’s expertise and wizardry. Since Jack was the fraternity’s faculty advisor then, most of us felt as though we had the inside track on his help and that he would perhaps provide for us before the other students. We soon learned, however, that Jack’s mission was not only to help the fraternity, but to assist any student who was willing to ask for help and work with him to acquire what aid was available. He seemed to be a magician. It rarely appear- ed that anyone was turned down, and it seemed as though what was granted almost always fit the particular need. There was always a string of “gentle encouragement” attached to each student’s award package. In my case, I recall Jack telling me on a number of occasions that if I could not manage to keep a proper grade point average and otherwise stay out of trouble that the money would dry up and I could go back to Kentucky from whence I came. I listened well, as did most other students who wanted to retain their magical award. Jack served as faculty advisor to the Kappa Sigma fraternity from 1961 until his retirement from Millsaps in April of 1999. There are probably those in the Millsaps community who feel that Jack should be honored as Alumnus of the Year for simply being able to hang in there with this particular group of men for 38 years. Many of the pranks and debauchery of the Kappa Sigs are legendary and without Jack Woodward’s availability, counseling, and ability to act as the liaison between the fraternity and the Millsaps administration, it is not likely that these men would have survived as a part of the school’s tradition. Jack could not keep the fraternity out of trouble, but he did require them to be responsive to the College. In my capacity as alumnus advisor to that fraternity since 1977, I have heard more than one chapter officer exclaim that the hard part of being in trouble was not so much being admonished by President Harmon, but having to go and tell “Brother Jack” about the most recent incident. An ordained United Methodist minister, Jack came to campus in 1961 on a two-year appointment from the Bishop of the Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church. Over the next four decades, he served the College as Director of Religious Life, Director of Financial Aid, Dean of Men, and finally as Dean of Student Aid Financial Planning. In all his roles, and especially as Dean, he was an example to his students, his peers on campus, and colleagues across the state and region. “Jack has been a tremendous leader in financial aid,” Ann Hendrick, Director of Financial Aid at Millsaps, says. “In his gentle manner, he always served as the conscience of any group, reminding us of our job to serve students, to make a Millsaps education available and affordable.” Countless doctors, lawyers, judges, business people, teachers, coaches and yes, even ministers, would not have attained these positions of prominence without the guidance and assistance of Jack. He was and still is the real deal. Thank you Jack. We might have made it without you, but you made the way much easier. At the College Awards Dinner on March 17, Jack Woodward was honored as Alumnus of the Year. Jim Livesay Awards for Ser- vice to the College were presented to Dr. T. W. Lewis, B.A. 1953, Emeritus Professor of Religion; Jean Nicholson Medley, B.A. 1968, former president of the Alumni Council and psychiatric social worker at St. Dominic Hospital; Brad Chism, B.A. 1974, former M Club president and Executive Director of the Jackson Medical Mall Foundation; Boyd Campbell, B.B.A. 1986, former Millsaps Player and developer of aboyd.com, an electronic magazine. PREVIOUS PAGE | PAGE 1 OF 1 | NEXT ARTICLE |
