Athletic Hall of Fame
The Gustavus Adolphus College Hall of Fame was established in 1978 at which time 19 "Charter Members" were inducted either as coaches or as athletes. As of the fall of 2022, 348 individuals (321 athletes, 16 coaches and 11 benefactors) have been elected to the Hall of Fame.
The former Hall of Fame room on the second floor of the Lund Center was originally partially endowed by the families of both Dwight Holcombe's (the only father/son combination holding membership in the Hall). The hardwood plaque upon which the individual plates are permanently displayed, now in the Hall of Champions, was donated by the family of former football coach and Hall of Fame member Jocko Nelson, who passed away in 1978.
Jack Colvard
Basketball
Inducted: 2002
John "Jack" Colvard was a key player on the Gus Young-coached basketball teams that won three straight conference championships in 1954, 1955, and 1956. An all-city, all-conference, and all-region selection at St. Paul's Humboldt High School, the 6'5" forward lettered all four years at Gustavus, earning a reputation as a rugged rebounder who played "bigger" than he already was. He was a three-year starter on teams that went 23-9, 22-7, and 20-9. In his sophomore season, he averaged 11.7 points per game while playing alongside All-Americans Jim Springer and John Patzwald. In his junior and senior seasons, he became one of the "go to" guys in big games against such teams as Hamline, Western Kentucky, Tennessee A&I, Texas Southern, Beloit, and Western Illinois.
A business major at the College, Colvard went on to Northwestern College of Chiropractic in Minneapolis, where he earned a doctor of chiropractic degree in 1959. He established the West St. Paul Chiropractic Clinic in 1964, where he remained in private practice until retiring in 1997. He has been active in the Minnesota Chiropractic Association, serving on its peer review committee, chairing its ethics and jurisprudence committees, and being named to its board of directors. The association awarded him its Distinguished Services Award in 1987. In 1994 Governor Arne Carlson appointed him to Minnesota's Board of Chiropractic Examiners. The parents of two daughters, Colvard and his wife, Sharon, now live in Eagan, Minnesota.