On Saturday, April 25, there will be a Washburn University Alumni Awards Banquet at the Bradbury Thompson Alumni Center. The event will begin with a cocktail reception at 6 p.m. and will be followed by the program. The cost of the event is $17 for Alumni association members and $20 for non-members.

Six alumni will be honored during this program. As stated in a press release Tuesday, April 7, winners of the Distinguished Service Award are Ann McIntosh Adrian and Gilbert E. Galle. The winner of the Lilla Day Monroe Award is Glenda Cafer. The Colonel John Ritchie Award will be presented to Kirk D. Thompson, and the winners of the Graduate of the Last Decade Award are Joshua M. Looney and Hattie E. Mitchell.

The Distinguished Service Award is given to “recognize outstanding alumni who have made personal and professional contributions to society,” according to the Alumni Awards criteria sheet. The Monroe Award is “given to a woman who has distinguished herself as a teacher, instructor, administrator, or benefactor at the University and has given a service to the community and/or her chosen profession.” The Richie Award, established in 2007, fits the same criteria as the Monroe Award but is awarded to a male educator. The GOLD (Graduate of the Last Decade) Award “honors Graduates of the Last Decade who have demonstrated leadership in career or civic endeavors and loyalty to Washburn University.” These recipients also have to have graduated in the last decade.

Susie Hoffmann, Alumni Director, encouraged students to join the Alumni Association even before they graduate. The membership fee for students is just $10.

“The Alumni Association is your connection to Washburn and to your fellow classmates, you know, really for a lifetime,” Hoffmann said. “We have a student group and it’s ten dollars a year for students and really it’s kind of a training camp for students to learn really what it’s like to be a Washburn alum—all of the different activities and programs we have to offer for alumni after graduation.”