SMC Student Recognized By PTK Honor Society

03/31/10

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -  A Spartanburg Methodist College student has received a $1,000 award for academic performance and recognition by the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.

Jordan Brown, of Greenville, SC, has been selected as a 2010 Coca-Cola Bronze Scholar, based on scores earned in the All-USA Academic Team Competition.

As a national finalist, Brown will receive a $1,000 stipend. The Coca-Cola All-USA/All-State Academic Teams are sponsored by the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation and is administered by Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.

The All-USA/All-State Academic Teams programs annually recognize up to 370 outstanding two-year college students. Selection is based on nominations submitted by community college presidents or campus CEOs, who receive nomination materials in the fall.  Nominations are based on outstanding academic performance and service to the college and community.

"I was really excited to receive this award. It's a real honor," said Brown.

As a member of Phi Theta Kappa and in order to be nominated for the award, Brown conducted a service project to raise awareness of special needs voters in his precinct - Cherokee Springs B in Chesnee, SC. As vice-president of that precinct, he proposed and saw a policy implemented that would allow voters with disabilities in that precinct to bypass the lines on election days.

"I waited for five hours to vote in 2008; I imagine the next election will be just a big and the waiting will be just as long.  But not everyone has the ability to stand and wait around that long. It was something that struck me. So when I was elected vice-president of the precinct the next month, that was one of the first things that we took up. I wish all precincts would do that," Brown commented.

While at SMC, he has also been a member of Psi Beta National Honor Society in Psychology, and president and a founding member of the religion and philosophy fraternity Theta Lambda Nu.  He has also been nominated for the Hites Scholarship and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Scholarship, and was named to the Who's Who of American College and University Students.

He  is also an AYSO volunteer soccer coach in Spartanburg and a Special Olympics volunteer in Greenville. He is also the owner of two small businesses in Spartanburg, Greenscape Lawn Maintenance and Premier Pressure Washing.

Brown is a 2008 graduate of Boiling Springs High School. He is married to Caitlin Brown and lives in Greenville.

After graduating from SMC, Brown plans to major in Political Science. He is undecided as to which four-year college he will transfer, but is considering several options.

Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi, is the largest honor society in American higher education with 1,250 chapters on college campuses in all 50 of the United States, Canada, Germany, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the British Virgin Islands, the United Arab Emirates and U.S. territorial possessions.

More than two million students have been inducted since its founding in 1918, with approximately 100,000 students inducted annually.

Spartanburg Methodist College is in its 99th year of providing a quality education to students in a Christian environment. More than 90 percent of SMC graduates continue their education at other institutions of higher learning. 

For more information, please contact Brian Fulkerson, Director of Public Information, at (864) 587-4254 or Heather Allen, Scholarship Programs Specialist of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society at (601) 987-5741 or heather.allen@ptk.org  

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