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J.F. "JACK" SCHWANHAUSSER, P’46 LEADERSHIP AWARD
In January 2009, the Trustees of the Foundation voted to establish and
fund the J.F. “Jack” Schwanhausser, P’46 Leadership Award. The Award is
named after Jack Schwanhausser who was the first recipient of a Grant-in-Aid
from the Foundation and who spent a lifetime “paying it back” over and over
again. Jack’s college career was interrupted, as many were, by the Second
World War. Jack served 195 days in front line combat during that war in
Belgium, Holland and Germany. Jack was Honorably Discharged November 1945
after earning: the rank of Sergeant, Company Communications Chief, The
Combat Infantryman’s Badge, The Bronze Star and three Campaign Ribbons. Jack
graduated from Rutgers in 1949.
The Chi Psi experience has always been an important part of Jack’s life.
Through his father, Jack has roots that reach to the founding of Alpha Rho
in 1879 at Rutgers and to the founding of the Fraternity itself in 1841 at
Union College. Jack’s wife of 60 years, Jane Schwanhausser, had this to say
about the importance of the Chi Psi experience for Jack and other returning
veterans: “The brotherhood to which they returned helped to stabilize their
lives for all they wanted to do at that time was get on with it and try to
make up for lost time.”
At the time the Award was established, Jack had been out of college for
almost 60 years, had served on the Foundation for more than 35 years and,
before that, had served on the Alumni Association. Jack therefore
demonstrated, by example, Chi Psi’s values and traditions with some of Alpha
Rho’s most celebrated personalities: Bones Lundberg, P’24, Gerry Wharton,
P’25 and Hank Bartels, P’45 to name a few.
The Award was named in honor of Brother Schwanhausser because he
represents, for many of us, the best of Chi Psi and his life of service,
leadership and sacrifice are beacons for the young men who are asked to lead
Alpha Rho at the highest level. The Foundation believes that a successful
organization needs leaders at every level and especially needs a leader who
sets the right tone at the top. The Schwanhausser Award is directed to the
individual who is responsible for setting the tone at the top at the Alpha –
the #1. Through this Award, the Foundation recognizes that to meet the
challenges of being #1, you soon learn that you are well served to look to
yourself and the qualities your peers saw in you, the fraternity’s ideals
and its exemplary leaders, like Jack, who have preceded you, persisted and
succeeded.
The award is provided annually to the #1 of Alpha Rho of Chi Psi, half
payable at the initiation banquet next following his taking of office and
half payable at the initiation banquet next following his favorable term of
service as judged by the Trustees of the Foundation with input from the
Trustees of the Alpha Rho Alumni Association; the amount of the award shall
be $1,000 in total. |
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