Longtime coach, kinesiology professor to receive Award of Service at MC’s Homecoming

Joel K. “Hap” Hudson, pictured with Suzanne McDonough, MC professor of kinesiology and director of the Coach “Hap” Hudson 5K Run/Walk, will receive the 2026 Award of Service at MC's Bicentennial Homecoming.

As a fresh football recruit from Tylertown High School, Milton Magee had never been to Jackson when he arrived on the Mississippi Christian University (MC) campus in the late Seventies. But Coach Hap Hudson made sure he had a church to attend on Sunday morning.

“I give a lot of credit to Coach Hudson for developing me into the player I became,” said Magee, a defensive lineman who would help the Choctaws to one of the most successful seasons in program history in 1989 and be named First Team All Gulf-South Conference the following year. “As a position coach, he pushed discipline – he couldn’t stand complacency – and that helped make me a good player and prepared me for life.

“More than that, he’s been a mentor to me and a friend to many athletes at MC. He’s always been there for all the guys he coached. Every morning, you would see him out in the community, having breakfast with some of his former players. I can’t say enough about him. Coach Hudson is a blessing.”

Joel K. “Hap” Hudson ’59 was a four-time letter-winner in football and a two-time letter-winner in baseball for the Choctaws, who built an impressive career as a coach and athletic trainer at his alma mater, earning induction into the MC Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. For more than five decades, Hudson served as an adjunct and assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at MC, and is perhaps best known for greeting runners and friends and firing the starter’s pistol to begin the annual Homecoming 5K race named in his honor.

Four hours after sending runners on their way at MC’s Bicentennial Homecoming 5K this year, Hudson is scheduled to receive the Award of Service during the National Alumni Association Awards Brunch at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, in Anderson Hall in the B.C. Rogers Student Center. The award recognizes MC alumni who have demonstrated extraordinary service to MC students.

When he came to MC, Hudson was drawn to its intimate environment, strong reputation for academic excellence and emphasis on Christian values, ethics, integrity and character – virtues he inspired in others.

“I appreciated the opportunity to know my professors and for them to know me,” Hudson said. “Those personal relationships became an important part of my experience and ultimately helped shape my life. Looking back, I can see God’s hand in bringing me to MC. He placed me in an environment where I could grow, not only academically and professionally, but also personally and spiritually.

“What began as an educational opportunity became a lifelong journey of faith, relationships, service and purpose.”

Hudson said he treasures the friendships he made at MC – many of them have lasted decades – but his greatest memory is meeting his future wife, Johnnie Ruth. The pair were blessed to share 67 years of marriage. All five of their children attended MC, as have many of their 16 grandchildren.

“When you share your formative years with people, working hard, competing, learning, growing, laughing, and sometimes struggling together, those relationships become part of your life story,” he said.

After completing his bachelor’s degree, Hudson immediately began pursuing his master’s when MC gave him the opportunity to teach. Over time, he came to understand that teaching and coaching were more than jobs; they were a calling.

“MC gave me the opportunity to live out that calling by teaching, coaching, encouraging and influencing generations of students and athletes,” he said. “I have always felt that God gave me a passion for working with young people and helping them recognize their potential.

“I am especially grateful that, after all these years, I am still able to teach at MC. There is something very special about continuing to serve the institution that played such an important role in shaping my own life.”

Hudson is looking forward to visiting and reminiscing with the MC family at Bicentennial Homecoming. The Award of Service is a treasured recognition for a lifetime of service to MC.

“God has placed wonderful people in my path, opened doors I could never have opened myself and allowed me to be part of things far greater than I could have imagined as a young student at MC,” he said. “To have my name included among those who have previously received this honor is humbling. I am thankful to MC, to the people who have believed in me, to my family, to my students and players, and most of all, to God for His hand upon my life.”