Introduction of Bob Jones, presented by Kristen Morwick, Tufts Women's Cross Country / Track & Field Head Coach

On the occasion of his 250th dual-meet victory in 1954, the legendary Tufts Track & Field Coach “Ding” Dussault was asked by the Tufts Weekly to name the finest Jumbo athletes he had ever coached. Nearly 25 years into his tenure at Tufts at that point, Ding highlighted three athletes who had made the biggest impression on him. 

The three names he mentioned were: Eddie Dugger, Rudy Fobert and ... Bob Jones.  

Eddie Duggar and Rudy Fobert were inducted into the Tufts Athletics Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural Class of 2018. And tonight – I’m so pleased to say – Coach Dussault scores a “Hall of Fame hat-trick” because the amazing Bob Jones is now taking his rightful place alongside Eddie and Rudy in the Tufts Athletics Hall of Fame. 

Like Eddie and Rudy, Bob Jones symbolized what Coach Dussault believed was the finest type of athlete. Bob was a phenomenal individual performer, but he preferred to compete in as many events as possible in order to contribute maximum points and help the team score.

From Brockton, Massachusetts, Bob arrived at Tufts in 1949 and made an immediate impact. Competing on the freshman team in the first meet of his collegiate career, Bob broke the Cousens Cage high jump record by clearing 6 feet, 1 ¼ inches. Later that season against BU, he would extend the record to 6 feet, 4 ¾ inches. And he broke it again as a sophomore clearing 6 feet 5 ¼ inches. By the end of his Tufts career, Bob had re-written the Tufts record books in the high jump, broad jump, 100-yard dash, 120-yard hurdles, and others. 

In 1953, Bob was recognized as the Tufts Weekly’s Athlete of the Year. The newspaper wrote, “When Ding Dussault forecasted a close meet with a strong rival, he would many times call on Jones to participate in five events. On the other hand, when Tufts was facing a weaker opponent, Ding would have Jones compete in just three events so as not to run up the score.”

That’s the level of talent that Bob had. 

In a meet against Brown during his junior year, Bob scored 20 points for the team with three wins in the high jump, broad jump and 300 yards; a second-place in the 100-yard dash; and a third-place in the high hurdles.

And in a meet against Northeastern, Bob was hindered by a painful muscle injury suffered in practice, but he still won four events and broke a 20-year old record. 

At the end of his junior year, Bob competed at the 1952 U.S. Olympic Trials. He finished ninth in the triple jump and 14th in the high jump.

Named a Team MVP multiple times, Bob led the Jumbos to three consecutive New England Championships and the 1953 Eastern Intercollegiate title. Bob Jones continues the line of Tufts track & field legends whose legacy we add to with this induction into our Hall of Fame.

But here is the thing everybody ... this is an athletics Hall of Fame event, so of course we are focusing mostly on Bob’s amazing accomplishments as an athlete.

But all of these track & field successes I’ve described ... as great as they are, they don’t even begin to tell the story of Bob Jones the person. They don’t scratch the surface in describing the real-life hurdles Bob overcame to even make it to Tufts, and they don’t tell you anything about what accomplished in life after Tufts or the incredible impact he had on young people and education in Boston.

I can’t encourage you enough -- tonight when you get home or tomorrow, if you want to be inspired, please Google and read the 2022 Tufts Now article entitled “Hurdling Over the Obstacles”. It tells you the story of Bob Jones. It tells you about:

•    A man who, because of the color of his skin, had high school teachers tell him he’d never get accepted to college;
•    A man who hitch-hiked home to Brockton from a job on the Cape because he wanted to open his admissions decision letter from Tufts in person;
•    A man who worked in the Franklin Sports factory all summer after grade 12 to afford the $500 fall tuition bill at Tufts;
•    A man who wanted to be at Tufts so badly that he took trains and busses two hours each way every day during his freshman year – and he worked at a diner on the weekends to pay for that transportation;
•    A man who worked numerous other jobs to pay his way through Tufts, including peeling vegetables at Metcalf Hall from 5-7 am before going to class and washing windows at the Batterymarch Building in Boston;
•    A man who, in spite of what those teachers and counselors told him, earned his diploma from Tufts as the only Black student in his graduating class;
•    A man who became a teacher and later the Superintendent of Schools in Brockton and then helped lead the desegregation of schools in the 1990’s;
•    A man who transformed education in Boston and a pioneer who positively impacted the lives of countless young people.

Well ... I guess you don’t need to read the article now after all.

So with all of that in mind, please help me welcome into the Hall of Fame an incredible athlete and person who never met a hurdle he didn’t think he could clear.

Mr. Bob Jones!