Theta Chi Fraternity Announces 2015/2016 James Ralph ‘Shug’ Jordan Award
Carmel, IN – Theta Chi Fraternity is proud to announce Connor Bohlken (Gamma Phi/Nebraska Wesleyan 2016) as the 2015/2016 recipient of the James Ralph ‘Shug’ Jordan Award. This distinction honors a brother who demonstrates excellence as a scholar-athlete.
Brother Bohlken competed for his university’s track and cross country team, lettering in both all four years, mirroring Shug Jordan’s athletic acumen. Connor’s speed on the track qualified him multiple times for both the indoor and outdoor Great Plains Athletic Conference Championships. His passion for his team went beyond the normal call of action. Connor’s chapter brothers recount seeing him “frequently…escorting potential recruits around campus giving tours.” Leadership like this earned Connor the Cross Country Leadership Award during the 2015 school year.
While many student athletes would have been satisfied with being at the top of their sport, Connor strived for equal success in the classroom earning a cumulative GPA of 3.74. As a promising student athlete, Connor was awarded the Great Plains Athletic Conference Pflieger-Olsen Scholar-Athlete Award. Brother Bohlken was also a member of the following honor societies while in college: Huge Society for Scholars and Leaders, Blue Key Honor Society, Society of Scholars, Order of Omega, Kappa Mu Epsilon Mathematics Honor Society, and Sigma Pi Sigma Physics Honor Society. Consistent success could be witnessed in both his athletics and academics, earning at least 3.6 GPA each semester as well as making the Academic Honor List (GPA of 3.75 and up) at least one time each academic year.
While Connor’s academic achievements are quite impressive they become even more astonishing when one learns that he achieved them while double majoring in mathematics and physics, with minors in philosophy and religion; a feat he completed in just four years.
Connor could have easily won this award off his academic and athletic success alone, but as Connor’s chapter brothers put it, “Connor has been a tireless champion of Theta Chi Fraternity. He is without a doubt the model Theta Chi in our chapter.” During his time in the Fraternity, Connor served as the Scholarship Chairman, Chapter Treasurer, and Chapter President for two terms. Connor also founded and served as the first Vice President of Scholarship on his university’s Interfraternity Council.
Brother Jordan once said when asked about being an underdog, “Always remember… Goliath was a 40-point favorite over little David.” When Brother Bohlken’s chapter encountered dwindling numbers and apathy, he exemplified Brother Jordan’s “never-say-die” attitude. In the fall of 2014 he orchestrated an intense recruitment effort that increased chapter numbers by 92% and led the men to raise nearly $10,000 through fundraisers to fix the chapter house. Connor’s chapter brothers have said “this chapter may not have been here today had it not been for Connor’s strong leadership.”
Outside of his academics, athletics, and fraternal involvement Connor also found time to act as Wesleyan Math Club President and Senior Class President. A living example of Theta Chi’s motto, the Assisting Hand, Connor spent time volunteering as a teaching fellow with the Breakthrough Kent Denver Program, university tutor, a member of Habitat for Humanity, and Nebraska Wesleyan’s Snow Angels Program; a group of students that shovel snow for elderly residents of Lincoln during the winter. It is no surprise that Connor was recognized with the Greek Emerging Leader Award as a freshman and Homecoming King as a senior.
The Shug Jordan Award is named in honor and memory of Brother James Ralph “Shug” Jordan, of Chi Chapter at Auburn University, who served as Auburn’s head football coach from 1951 to 1975. Brother Jordan’s team went undefeated in the 1957 season and won that year’s National Championship.
The Grand Chapter created the Shug Jordan Award in 1996 to honor the scholar-athlete who best exemplifies the qualities of leadership, citizenship, academics, brotherhood, loyalty to alma mater, and commitment to excellence in intercollegiate athletics.
Founded in 1856, Theta Chi Fraternity is a men’s collegiate fraternity with more than 180,000 initiated members and has established 235 chapters. Leadership development, personal development, and service to alma mater are fundamental to Theta Chi Fraternity’s mission.
