Hall of Fame
Gary Allan Sojka began his academic career graduating Cum Laude from Coe College in 1962. As a student at Coe, he played football four years and was a member of Coe's undefeated conference championship team in 1959. He also was in track for four years and was Midwest Conference champion in the high hurdles. At Coe, Gary Sojka was a George W. Bryant Scholar, a designation rewarding both athletic and academic ability. The Bryant Scholarship was an accurate predictor of academic things to come. Gary Sojka earned his Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy de- grees from Purdue University. In 1967, he joined the faculty of the University of Indiana as a research associate, the first step in a rapid rise through academic ranks to an appointment as Chairperson, of Department of Biology, in July, 1979. In 1981, Dr. Gary Sojka was named Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Indiana. In 1984, Gary Sojka was named the 13th president of Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. His years as a Bryant Scholar at Coe bear directly on his presidency at Bucknell as he continues to promote the concept of the scholar/athlete. He has provided leadership during the formation of the Colonial League, an athletic league composed of Colgate, Lehigh, Lafayette, Holy Cross, Davidson, and Bucknell, that prohibits athletic scholarships and requires athletes to meet the same academic standards as other students. Because he symbolizes Coe's ideal of the scholar/athlete in every way and because lessons on the playing fields of Coe have become a part of his educational leadership role, Coe College is honored to inscribe the name of Dr. Gary Allan Sojka on the rolls of the Kohawk Athletic Hall of Fame.
