Jackie Thomas () has added another honor to her growing list of accomplishments, as she was named to the women’s basketball first team of the 2008 Arthur Ashe, Jr., Sports Scholar Awards, announced in the May 29, 2008, edition of Diverse: Issues in Higher Education.
A three-time Academic All-GNAC selection, Thomas will graduate with honors later this week, earning her degree in sociology. She has been accepted into the Masters of Teaching program at and earned the Distinguished Graduate Award earlier this spring for her contributions to the campus community. Last week she was named as one of two nominees from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
In the community, Thomas has helped numerous people through her work with organizations such as the Rotary Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Minorities in the Community, and the Office of Multicultural Affairs. She is a two-time recipient of the athletic department’s Mission Award for exemplifying the mission of Seattle University through her actions.
Thomas started 26 of the 27 games she appeared in during the 2007-08 season, averaging 7.8 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game. She became ’s all-time steals leader, male or female, finishing with 234 career steals, and her 84 steals this season is a single season record. She also set GNAC career records for most steals and steals per game in conference games with 158 thefts for 2.93 steals per game in conference play.
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education is a magazine published every two weeks that won the 2002 Folio Award as the best education publication in the . Since 1995, the magazine has sponsored the Arthur Ashe, Jr., Sports Scholar Award in honor of the tennis player for his commitment to education and his love of athletics. According to the magazine, it established the Sports Scholar Awards “to honor undergraduate students of color who have made achieving both academically and athletically a winning combination.”
To be included, student-athletes have to compete in an intercollegiate sport, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.2, and be active on their campuses and/or in their communities.