Orange & Blue Magazine // Spring 2003 // Online Edition
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Famous Names: A Gator's connection to Old Hickory

Andy Jackson is the Gators men's tennis coach…Wait a minute, his name sounds like it's straight out of a history book. Coach Andy Jackson is a real descendent of Andrew Jackson, the seventh U.S. president.

"I am the 14th generation of the Jackson family. The former president Andrew Jackson is the eighth generation, and Gen. Stonewall is the ninth generation," he says.

He has the family tree, which his grandfather worked on for a decade, in his office to prove his heritage because people always doubt it.

"When you have name like that, you get some kidding," he says. And even though he tells his heritage, people don't believe it. "Then I show them the family tree, and they understand I am serious." Andy Jackson, head coach of the men's tennis teamAndrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States

-- by Tomoko Kudo

 

"People usually ask me if I 'feel good.' Or they say things like 'Hit me!' and make exclamations like 'Ow!' I don't dance or sing, for the good of the world, so I guess that disappoints some people." - UF electrical engineering student James Brown

-- by Scarlett Williams