Kenneth D. McCoy, Jr. accepts his Alumni of Distinction Award on March 31, 2023. Photo by Justin Cox.
The Alumni of Distinction Celebration Banquet on March 31 was well attended. I have not been to other Alumni of Distinction events, but it was noted that this year was special because organizers also worked with the Culinary Arts program and noted that this year is their 50th anniversary.
The Cuddy Center had the blinds open enough to let the sunlight filter in. Mischa Shimek, a UAA graduate and local music teacher played guitar while alumni and staff seemed to also be getting back into socializing – I watched people greeting each other and there were a lot of hugs, handshakes, and happy greetings, “It’s been years! How are you? We go too long not seeing each other!” There was considerable talk of covid being over, and many were realizing that they had not seen each other since before covid.
Attendees were treated to a video of UAA. There was a land acknowledgement and on video Chancellor Parnell welcomed everyone to the party and mentioned that there were over 67,000 UAA alumni in Alaska all over the world.
Each of the recipients were introduced by a friend or colleague, and then the recipients came up to receive their award and give a speech.
Marie-Sophie Boggasch was selected as the “UAA Emerging Leader” award recipient. She completed her UAA degrees, a B.S. in Aviation Technology in 2016 and an M.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies in 2020. She worked in aviation, then returned to UAA to coach gymnastics. During her coaching tenure, the program was about to get cut and she raised more than $900,000 to keep it. She said in her speech, “From here to eternity is now.”
Maggie K. Winston received the UAA Humanitarian Award. She received an A.A. in the general program in 2015 and a B.A. in Psychology in 2015, both from UAA. Having been diagnosed with idiopathic transverse myelitis at the age of 21, which left her without the use of her arms and legs, she has been described as a “fierce advocate for expanding services for people with disabilities on various boards, councils, nonprofits, and her current position as director for independent living programs at the Independent Living Center in Kenai.” Part of her platform is to let people know that “people with disabilities are part of the entire public.”
Kenneth D. McCoy, Jr. received the Alumni of Achievement Award. As a former chief of police in Anchorage, he followed up his career with becoming chief diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) officer at Providence Hospital. In his speech, he spoke of his role of “diplomacy, dignity and service” and a desire to “improve the lives of all Alaskans”. He publicly thanked his family for their willingness to share him “with our great community.”
Before the advent of smartphones, fundraising events had a moment in the program, after the speakers had done their presentations, where people would reach for their checkbooks to donate. I saw audience members picking up the donation cards and looking at their phones instead– I suspected it was to donate. It occurred to me that the money that those people were donating was a personal investment in Alaska’s future. The Alumni of Distinction are some of UAA’s brightest stars, but the majority of students who enter UAA leave with having learned something and have come out better for it. Many of our students suffer for their education, and without the help that these donors gave, might not be able to afford to attend UAA. We had dessert and people were talking again and catching up. It was a lovely evening and I am sure that those having gone look forward to more.
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