History and Black Studies double major Jay Jackson ’25 is the 2023 winner of Denison’s Kenneth Joseph Hines Memorial Award. The award honors the memory of Hines, a member of the Denison Class of 2004, who had a keen interest in diversity, serving others, leadership, and making positive contributions to the Denison community. Each year, the Hines award recognizes a Denison student with similar qualities.
“Coming to Denison has been one of the best choices I’ve made in my life,” says Jackson. “I have great professors who challenge and push me to become better academically, but also to become better as a person.”
In his two years at Denison, Jackson has already made quite an impact, especially within his focus on the student-athlete experience. A guard on the Denison men’s basketball team, he is the co-president of DIG, the athletics-based diversity and inclusion group.
“I connect and build relations with athletes on campus,” he says. “I also plan and organize events for athletes from underrepresented communities, and work with my team to influence student athletes to build an inclusive community.”
Jackson and his fellow student-athletes find ways to express their experiences through podcasts, poetry, and journalism. He is open about sharing his own experiences as a student-athlete on the Dig Deep podcast series.
His future plans include attending law school. Only a sophomore, Jackson has already connected with “several alumni who have given me advice on law school and educated me on their career paths.”
“Being at Denison has opened the doors to several opportunities for me career-wise, in leadership, for studying abroad, and much more. It’s why I came here in the first place,” he says. “The faculty here really care. and have just been there for me — they’ve helped me through the good and bad times.”
