UHCL honors community leader excellence at the 2018 Alumni Celebration
The UHCL Alumni Association honors alumni and professors annually at the Alumni Celebration. This celebration serves to recognize these honorees accomplishments and service to UHCL and the surrounding community.
On Oct. 20, the UHCL Alumni Association acknowledged this year’s honorees at the 2018 Alumni Celebration. The celebration was a black-tie optional event complete with dinner and an awards presentation for the recipients. The celebration honored three recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Award, and two recipients of the Outstanding Professor Award.
Financier Kenny Koncaba, school administrator Michael Marquez and professional leadership adviser Joyce Delores Taylor were among the distinguished alumni honored at the celebration. Additionally, Professor of Behavior Analysis Dorthea C. Lerman and Professor of Instructional Design and Technology Jana M. Willis were among the professors honored at the celebration.
Rhonda Thompson, vice president of university advancement, gave a little background on the award recipients and their motivation to do what it is that they do.
“Our honorees are highly successful in their fields, but what drives them is their desire to help others succeed,” Thompson said.
Since I was in attendance, I was able to hear the acceptance speeches of all the award recipients. I can honestly say that each speech was inspiring to say the least.
From the distinguished alumni recipients who persevered through adversity to get where they are, to the outstanding professors who go above and beyond their classroom obligations, there was a lot of seasoned professionals for students to look up to.
Jessica Kunzat, math major and vice president of outreach and communication for the Student Government Association, definitely felt the inspirational sentiment after attending the Alumni Celebration.
“It was a really amazing experience to see how connected many alumni are to UHCL even decades after they have graduated,” Kunzat said. “I was honored to be there representing our student population and look forward to the day that I will be sitting in that crowd as an alumna myself.”
Overall, the Alumni Celebration was a really good time! It really put into perspective how close my graduation date is and it gave me a lot of things to think about when I become an alumnus.
For more information on the Alumni Celebration and the Alumni Association as a whole, contact Kris Thompson at thompsonk@uhcl.edu.
