College Sports Information Directors of America

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Kevin Lanke – Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology University, Assistant AD for Sports Information & Communications

Lester Jordan Award

by Jim Seavey – CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame Committee

When Lester Jordan founded what we now know as the CoSIDA Academic All-America® program in 1952, he became a pioneer in how the achievements of student-athletes in competition, in the classroom and in the community were celebrated.
 
When longtime Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Assistant AD for Communications Kevin Lanke joined the Academic All-America® committee in 1999, he had no idea that he too would become a pioneer in how those achievements are celebrated. 
 
Through hard work, dedication and ingenuity, Lanke has combined his passion for the program with a dose of modern technology to make a difference in so many lives at all levels of play. He currently serves as the chair of the Academic All-America Core Program. In this role, Lanke coordinates and supervises he supervises a committee of 150-plus CoSIDA members from NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA and the College Division as they coordinate the Academic All-America® program's publicity, operations and new media efforts.
 
 
Now nearly a quarter century later, the legacies of two individuals who have meant so much to the continued growth and development of the program will forever be intertwined, as Lanke has been named as the 2022 recipient of CoSIDA’s Lester Jordan Award. This is presented annually to an individual for exemplary service to the Academic All-America® program and the promotion of the ideals of being a student-athlete.
 
The Lester Jordan Award is just the latest in a series of honors that Lanke has earned. He is a multi-winner of Rose-Hulman’s Excellence in Service Award for work on campus projects and in 2018, earned the Rose-Hulman Collegian Rose Award  which recognizes alumni employees whose work promotes lifelong alumni connections and the school’s educational mission. Lanke was honored for efforts on the Title IX Equity Resolution Panel in 2014-15, earned the 2006 President's Outstanding Service Award.
Lanke recognized early in his career how much of an impact that the Academic All-America® program makes on an institution, and Rose-Hulman is no exception to that.
 
“Early on in my first year in the profession, I saw how much the program helps the visibility of the school as a whole,” Lanke said.  “When you see the quality of student-athletes not only at your own institution, but at schools across the country at all levels, it really starts to hit you.”
 
“Honoring the crème-de-la-crème” is a philosophy espoused often by the late Dick Enberg when describing the Academic All-America® program, and Lanke fully embraces the mantra as he helps tell the stories of the amazing accomplishments of young men and women throughout North America.
 
“The program represents what intercollegiate athletics should be all about,” Lanke said. “Sometimes we hear more negative noise instead of the positive stories that these student-athletes are experiencing, and having the chance to honor student-athletes for what they are achieving on their respective journeys is very humbling.”
 
It’s extremely appropriate that the word “technology” is contained in Lanke’s school, as he has been at the forefront of advancements that have taken the process of how teams are selected throughout the year from the typewriter and fax machine to the lightning-quick world of the internet.  Kevin worked tirelessly with CoSIDA Hall of Famer and fellow Jordan Award recipient Mark Beckenbach of Ohio Wesleyan University to make that happen in his role as the AAA Committee Vice Chair. He has continued that after following in Beckenbach’s footsteps as the committee chair four years ago by remaining true to the program’s mission.
 
“One thing I’ve always kept in mind is that it is an honor to be able to tell the stories,” Lanke said.  “If we can do that and make a difference for both the student-athletes and for our schools, we’ve done our jobs.”
 
The Academic All-America® program has certainly woven itself into the fabric at Rose-Hulman, which has become one of the all-time leaders across all divisions in honorees during Lanke’s tenure.  The school’s athletics department has a dedicated wall with all the names of plaques of past winners, and that has served as inspiration for athletes to ask Lanke a simple question:  How can I get up there?
 
“I had a women’s golf student-athlete ask me what she needed to do to get on that wall, and while I certainly couldn’t promise her it would happen, I told her she had the opportunity to do so by working hard,” Lanke said. “Fast forward to her senior year, and I had the privilege to tell her that she had been selected as an Academic All-America honoree. She burst into tears. That’s what the program is all about.”
 
Lanke has seen how the AAA program has become an integral part of the recruiting process, not only at Rose-Hulman but also at schools across the country. 
 
“It’s had a major impact on recruiting student-athletes at our institution, as our coaches have been able to emphasize that they too can be part of this history,” he noted. “I’m sure that’s the case at many institutions as the program continues to grow and expand and we’ve been able to recognize more honorees than ever before.”
 
As Jordan and Lanke are now forever linked to the history of the Academic All-America program, what would the former say to the latter if he had the chance?
 
“I’d thank him for having the vision to honor academic oriented accomplishments,” Lanke said. “Mr. Jordan had the conviction to show how student-athletes are both great athletes and great students, and we are all forever grateful to him for that.”
 
Just as we in CoSIDA are grateful to Kevin Lanke for providing that same vision, dedication and passion some 70 years later.