Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell's New Arena to be Named for Gary Sojka
10/14/2002 8:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Oct. 14, 2002
Bucknell University's new 4,000-seat athletic arena will be named for biology professor and former president Gary A. Sojka. The Sojka Pavilion is scheduled to be dedicated on Jan. 15, 2003.
Sojka, who served as Bucknell's 13th president for 11 years before stepping down in 1995 to become a full-time member of the faculty, is being honored through the wishes of the late Robert E. Smith, Class of 1939, and chairman emeritus of Bucknell's Board of Trustees. Smith and his wife, Peg Farrell Smith, Class of 1941, contributed $8 million to the recreation and athletics project earlier this year.
"I continue to be touched by Bob Smith," said Sojka. "He and I had a marvelous relationship for 17 years and Bucknell truly prospered under his leadership. Because it speaks to the depth of our friendship, this means as much to me as anything could."
The Sojka Pavilion will be part of the new $32 million recreation and athletics center, which will be named by lead donors Kenneth G. Langone, Class of 1957, and his wife, Elaine. Scheduled to be dedicated Nov. 9 during Homecoming weekend, the new fitness center and olympic-size pool are the first sectors of the center to be completed.
The new arena's primary purpose will be for men's and women's varsity basketball. It will replace the 64-year-old Davis Gym, which will continue to be a venue for volleyball and intramural sports.
"Gary Sojka has long been an advocate and enthusiastic supporter of Bucknell's scholar-athlete model of athletics," said John Hardt, Bucknell director of athletics and recreation. "In many ways his own achievements epitomize the ideal of the scholar-athlete, so it is only appropriate that this marvelous new facility be named in honor of this extraordinary man."
Sojka, who serves as the university's NCAA faculty athletics representative, has received many tributes for his leadership in research, academia and community service. He also has served as president of the Pennsylvania Association of Colleges and Universities, been a member of the NCAA President's Council, and served on the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Universities.
Sojka received his bachelor's degree from Coe College and his master's and Ph.D. in genetics from Purdue University, which recently granted him an honorary doctor of sciences degree in recognition of his service to higher education. He joined the faculty at Indiana University where, during his 17-year-tenure, he served as professor and chair of the department of biology and was named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in 1981. He has authored or coauthored more than 40 published papers on carbon metabolism and genetic adaptations to the environment in photosynthetic bacteria.
Before his death in May, Smith had privately requested that the new arena be named for Sojka. The former president and CEO of Beaunit Corporation, Smith had majored in economics at Bucknell and, as a member of the varsity basketball team, had played in the inaugural game at Davis Gym in 1938.
"I thought at the time that Davis Gym was utopia," Smith often recalled. "The old Tustin Gym had a track all around it, and you had to square off the corners of the track to get a basketball situation. Bucknell rarely lost a home game in those days, because there probably wasn't another court like it anywhere."
"The university is fortunate to have former student-athletes such as Bob Smith whose positive experiences at Bucknell inspire them to give back so generously to our campus," said Hardt. "Bob's wonderful gift will have a tremendous impact in enabling Bucknell to provide outstanding opportunities and experiences for our students. We are grateful to Bob for recognizing Professor Sojka's lasting contributions to Bucknell with the naming of this new facility in his honor."
Since the Smith gift, an additional $1 million has been raised for the arena project from alumni to honor Sojka.
Sponsoring 26 intercollegiate sports at the Division I level, Bucknell is a charter member of the Patriot League and has won the league's all-sports championship trophy in nine of the 12 years it has been contested, including the last five. Bucknell ranks annually among the top 10 Division I institutions in student-athlete graduation rate, and ranks third in Division I in producing Academic All-Americans.
