Dallas Jones, Nebraska Wesleyan ’17, is the winner of the 2021 William H. Shideler Award!
The Fraternity’s highest undergraduate honor, the Shideler award is presented annually to the most outstanding graduating senior of Phi Kappa Tau. The award memorializes Honored Founder William H. Shideler, Miami ’06.
Jones has been an extremely active member since his initiation in 2017. He’s held positions as President, Vice President, and Social Chair. He has attended Presidents Academy, Regional Conferences, Leadership Academy, Convention, Conclave, and a Building Men of Character Retreat.
“I have given every ounce of effort I have to my chapter. Since associating my first semester on campus, I knew that Phi Kappa Tau was home. I wanted to get involved early and stay involved throughout the duration of my four years,” Jones said in his essay.
His freshman year, Jones earned a 3.75 GPA to make it on the Deans List and raise the Upsilon chapter GPA. He organized three successful formals, hosted socials with every Greek chapter on campus, and underwent a massive communication effort to collect emergency information such as allergies and contact numbers. He was elected the most outstanding freshman based on academic achievements, campus involvement, and commitment to the values of the fraternity.
In his sophomore year, Jones earned a perfect 4.0 GPA. He was elected Vice President where he assisted with chapter operations, took the lead role within the executive committee during recruitment, and added 25 new brothers. With his help, Upsilon was selected for a Founders Four chapter the next summer.
As a sophomore, Jones also took a lead role in house updates such as new computers, chairs, vacuums, furniture, and other improvements. He launched a capital campaign for the chapter by creating a committee to put together a master plan for what their backyard should look like in the next five years and went through a yearlong process of developing a landscape plan and coming up with a $100,000 donation goal.
Junior Year, Jones earned a 3.95 GPA to make Dean’s list. He was elected president and was involved with developing extensive programming. He led a an executive retreat where brothers grew as a team and prepared to make operations more efficient, such as transparent financial records and better reporting reimbursements.
When COVID hit, Jones’ goal was to keep the chapter financially viable and retain as many members as possible. Under his leadership, the chapter was not only able to reimburse members upwards of $1,500 and maintain strong financial standing but retain 100% of initiated members. They were the only Greek chapter on campus to do so.
