WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – After an athletic career in which he worked until he was able to earn a spot as a starter on a regionally-ranked men's soccer team, senior Luke Jordan (Greenwich, N.Y./Greenwich Central) has earned one of the 42 prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships handed out to fall athletes.
 
Jordan is Lycoming's fifth NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winner, the second-most amongst Middle Atlantic Conference schools, behind only DeSales' six. Jordan joins a group that includes Justin Walker '14 (soccer), Sam Dressler '18 (football), Brandon Conrad '18 (wrestling) and Nick Russello '20 (lacrosse). Lycoming's five awardees in the past decade leads the conference.
 
"Luke is, first and foremost, a tremendous person - intelligent, caring and an incredible representation of what we want a student-athlete to be at Lycoming," Director of Athletics Mike Clark '93 said. "Justin, Sam, Brandon and Nick are also wonderful people, as are all the Warriors that we have nominated for the postgraduate scholarship. To see the success that we have had in garnering recipients is more than a little humbling, and it speaks to both what a great place Lycoming is and what great people we have attracted to this College. I am also incredibly grateful for the leadership that Associate Director of Athletics Joe Guistina, Dr. Sue Beidler, who retired as our faculty athletics representative in 2020, and Dr. John Whelan, our current FAR, have provided our student-athletes as they have completed their nominations."
 
Lycoming is the first men's soccer program in the MAC to have two NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winners.
 
"Luke is a live wire intellectually, and a pleasure to have around the lab," Jordan's advisor and Professor of Biology, Dr. Mary Morrison said. "He has been preparing for medical school since the day he set foot on our campus, and has shadowed a variety of physicians and other health professionals. He has the intellect, curiosity, drive, leadership skills, discipline and sense of duty to others that I'd expect in an excellent physician. He is a terrific role model and very deserving of a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship."
 
Similar to Walker, who is now a resident physician at Penn State Hershey, Jordan is also a biology: anatomy and physiology major that will use the postgraduate scholarship award of $10,000 to attend medical school.
 
"My goal of being an orthopedic surgeon began my senior year of high school when I was accepted into a competitive medical exploratory program allowing me to shadow different medical professionals at a local hospital," Jordan said. "I entered the New Visions Medical program my senior year because I was interested in physical therapy. After standing next to an orthopedic surgeon repairing a woman's wrist and seeing first-hand how surgeons can take an injured person and through a single surgery give them back their freedom to do the things they love, I began to develop my passion for medicine."
 
Jordan, who is from a small town just north of Albany, N.Y., came to Lycoming College because of thriving biology and pre-med programs, and also because of the chance to compete with a nationally-competitive men's soccer program.
 
"Luke's visit to Lycoming still stands out," head men's soccer coach Nate Gibboney said. "Like many students-athletes of Luke's athletic ability and academic achievements, he was heavily recruited by many prestigious schools. Luke made it very clear that he wanted a college experience that would challenge him to be a better man and prepare him for the best medical schools, all while providing him the opportunity to compete with, and against, the best soccer players in the country. His vision, energy and drive to be great is unique. I knew that he was a student, player and person that we had to have at Lycoming College."
 
In Jordan's first year with the program, he was a part of a team that made the NCAA Division III Championship, the first time in program history that the school earned an at-large bid to the field.
 
As a sophomore, Jordan played a bit more on a team that made another appearance in the MAC Commonwealth Championship final. He appeared set to step into an increased role as a junior before COVID-19 wrecked those plans.
 
As a senior, Jordan finally stepped into the starting lineup and served as a team captain, helping the team to five shutouts and a regional ranking.
 
A tremendous student, Jordan was a four-time MAC Academic Honor Roll recipient and a member of Phi Kappa Phi (general), Omicron Delta Kappa (leadership), Gamma Sigma Epsilon (chemistry) and Chi Alpha Sigma (athlete) honor societies. He is a seven-time member of the College's Dean's List.
 
He has worked as a research assistant in the Biology Vivarium Lab as well as the COVID-19 Testing Laboratory, worked as an undergraduate research fellow with the American Heart Association, served as both a biology tutor and teaching assistant and worked as a pediatric office medical assistant.
 
"Luke has made an impact in many aspects across campus," FAR Whelan, a professor of philosophy, said. "There's so many more areas where he has made an impact, from his work as President of Lycoming's SAAC for the past three years, as a student senator, a member of the Unifying Student Leadership Committee, the Alliance all the way to his work on the Unity Day Committee."
 
Jordan also served a term as the MAC SAAC Vice-President in 2020-21.
 
"There are many things that make him special, but Luke's leadership qualities make him stand out," SAAC advisor and head softball coach Melissa Montoro said. "Luke is very modest, but his abilities are well known at Lycoming College. He is known in every single committee, society and board that he is a part of for his excellent interpersonal communication skills, ability to create a vision, and his strategic and critical thinking skills."
 
The NCAA awards up to 126 postgraduate scholarships annually.  The scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are at least in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition.
 
The one-time non-renewable scholarships of $10,000 are awarded three times a year corresponding to each sport season (fall, winter and spring).  Each sports season there are 21 scholarships available for men and 21 scholarships available for women for use in an accredited graduate program.
 
The NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship was created in 1964 to promote and encourage graduate education by rewarding the Association's most accomplished student-athletes through their participation in NCAA championship and/or emerging sports. Athletics and academic achievements, campus involvement, community service, volunteer activities and demonstrated leadership are evaluated.  An equitable approach is employed in reviewing an applicant's nomination form to provide all student-athlete nominees an opportunity to receive the graduate award, regardless of sport, division, gender or race.  In maintaining the highest broad-based standards in the selection process, the program aims to reward those individuals whose dedication and effort are reflective of those characteristics necessary to succeed and thrive through graduate study.