"energetic & faithful to every task"

Isaac Jordan may have been born a Pennsylvania farm boy, but his ambitions were far grander than tending animals and harvesting crops. An important piece of his path was set early on when he moved to Ohio with his family and met Ben Runkle, who later described Isaac as "playmate of my boyhood, schoolmate, friend for long and strenuous years of manhood...[with] boundless energy, lofty ambitions, gifted with untiring perseverance and ability that made success a certainty..." Jordan and Runkle, two years his junior, landed at Miami of Ohio together for college. Fittingly, they became fraternity brothers, first as Dekes, then of course as Founders of a new fraternity. He displayed his goal-oriented nature throughout his collegiate career, and it came as a surprise to no one that went straight to law school and practiced as an attorney until he was elected to the United States Congress in 1882. In 1884, Brother Jordan gave a talk in which he outlined his view of the criteria by which a student should be considered for membership in Sigma Chi. That brief statement, which stresses the qualities of good character, has been known for many years as The Jordan Standard. Who knows how far Isaac Jordan's "ambitious purposes" may have taken him had he not died accidentally in 1890. What is known is that this self-made man was admired deeply for his relentless energy, broad talents, and unwavering dedication to all he pursued.