Five individuals will be honored during Newman University’s annual Alumni Awards Banquet April 27 in the Dugan-Gorges Conference Center located inside Dugan Library.
Renee Hein ’02, Curtis Nightingale ’01, Alicia Thompson, Ph.D. ’97, Jacob Wayman ’17 and honorary alumnus Victor “Vic” Trilli, director of athletics at Newman University, will receive recognition for the work they do.
Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving Ray Williams said he is looking forward to honoring the alumni and seeing them together.
“We want to take the time to celebrate these alumni and their accomplishments in their communities,” said Williams. “We also want the Wichita community to know about our alumni and how much we care about them. They are out there transforming society via the people around them and through the things they are doing.”
Williams said this year’s event has an extra detail added — attendees will include Newman’s past, present and future.
In addition to the 2019 Alumni Award recipients, those in attendance will include past Alumni Award recipients, past Ablah Award recipients, current students and Ablah Award nominees and future Newman freshmen.
“I’m especially excited to have these incoming students talk with Newman alumni. These are folks they will share an alma mater with in the future and I want them to talk with the alumni and find out what made their Newman experiences memorable.”
The 2019 Ablah Award nominees will be announced during the event as well, which is also something new for this year’s banquet, Williams said.
“I’m hoping the current Ablah nominees are able to network a bit with the past Ablah winners. It’s a prestigious award the university gives every year and for them to mingle with each other and get to know one another is a great opportunity.”
Williams said the Alumni Award recipients this year were mostly nontraditional students during their time at Newman. He said this is an important thing to note.
“It doesn’t matter if you were a traditional student in the sense that you came straight from high school to obtain a four-year degree, or if you were a student working full time and coming in the evenings. It doesn’t matter if you received a master’s or a bachelor’s. You can win this award — I think students should know that.”
To find out more about the banquet, contact Williams at [email protected]. Tickets for the event can be purchased online.
