Dear Friends,
Since 1959, the L.B. Jackman Award has been awarded to the most outstanding player or players in the UCA Homecoming football game. This year, 2017, there were two co-winners of the award, Hayden Hildebrand – quarterback, and George Odom – linebacker and safety. It was reported that when George Odom was told that he was one of the recipients of the award, he stated that he did not know what it was. Odom’s response prompted me to write a brief history about the L.B. Jackman Award.
Luke B. Jackman was born in Alix, Franklin County, Arkansas, in 1897. He received a Bachelor of Science in Education from Arkansas State Teachers College (now the University of Central Arkansas – UCA) in August 1935. He later received a master’s degree from Columbia University in New York.
According to his obituary, Jackman served as supervisor of schools in Franklin County and was superintendent of Ozark Schools before coming to UCA as registrar in 1951. Jackman served as registrar until he retired in 1961. He died on July 20, 1966, of a heart-related condition, and was buried in the Houston Cemetery at Alix in Franklin County.
While serving in his capacity as registrar, Jackman also served as a sponsor of Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity. According to documents in the Sigma Tau Gamma collection, during the Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity meeting of September 29, 1959, Leroy Froman made a motion to recognize the outstanding player of the homecoming football game. He motioned that the award be given the title, the L.B. Jackman Award. His motion received a second and it passed. Longtime Conway resident and UCA alumnus, Bill Johnson, was serving as president of Sigma Tau Gamma in 1959.
The first person to receive the L.B. Jackman Award was Henry Hawk in 1959. Sigma Tau Gamma has sponsored the L.B. Jackman Award since it was created, with the exception of a several year span where it was sponsored by UCA Athletics. David Grimes, UCA alumnus and longtime Sigma Tau Gamma member, said that there was a span of several years where Sigma Tau Gamma did not sponsor the award for some unknown reason. However, Sigma Tau Gamma resumed the sponsorship of the L.B. Jackman Award several years ago, and continues to sponsor the award it created in 1959.
