Kappa Journal Conclave Issue (Summer 2017)

TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE

Ben W. Jobe 1933–2017 Difference Maker in Basketball and Beyond

By Earl T. Tildon

W hen a Kappa brother achieves in his field of endeavor, he has met the purpose of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. When he meets that high standard, somebody ought to recognize it and celebrate. This celebration should also apply to achievers who may not be Kappas, but have contributed significantly to the world we live in. In this article, we celebrate a portion of the life of a man named Ben Jobe. Ben began his journey in the State of Agriculture and Com- merce, the City of Nashville, Tennessee

in 1933.

the Alpha Delta of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Fisk was the place where he comingled higher education with participation in basketball to a transition to the marketplace. His first job, immediately after Fisk, was coaching basketball at Nashville’s Cameron High. In his one season there, Cameron posted a school-record 24-0. He left Cameron for an assign- ment coaching a junior college team in Sierra Leone, West Africa. In his two years there, Jobe’s teams didn’t lose a game. Brother Jobe was demonstrating by his coaching success that he had a

It was in Nashville that Ben began his affinity for basketball, when he played basketball at Pearl High School, where he was a guard and captain of the team in 1951 and named to the National High School team. He then attended college at Fisk University where he was All- Southern Inter-Collegiate Athletic Con- ference as a junior and Senior, before embarking on his note-worthy coaching career. Fisk University was not only a place where he continued his education, but the place where he was initiated November 27, 1954 into the fraternity;

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Publishing achievement for more than 100 years

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