Tag: Heritage Gala

Shocker News

Alumni Achievement Award honoree Junetta Everett ’79 gets a celebratory hug from event emcee Roy Moye III ’15 at the 2024 Heritage Gala.

Long Wave

Last October, the WSU Foundation and Alumni Engagement welcomed three Shocker alums into the fold as Alumni Award winners at its Heritage Gala: Junetta Everett ’79, Diana Ho ’16 and Ronald Baker ’15. While this celebration marks only the second Heritage Gala since the merger of the WSU Foundation and the WSU Alumni Association in 2022, Everett, Ho and Baker join the long wave of fellow Shockers, hundreds-strong, under a tradition harking back to 1955.

The same year that the University of Wichita first began its campaign to enter the state system of higher education, the WSUAA hosted its inaugural Alumni Awards banquet and ceremony. Astronomer and leading figure in meteoritics Lincoln LaPaz, a 1920 graduate of Fairmount College, was recognized with the Alumni Achievement Award.

The award is still the highest honor bestowed upon Wichita State alumni by the WSU Foundation and Alumni Engagement for significant contributions to their field, community or society. Alumni are also recognized at the Heritage Gala with two other awards from the program’s history: the Social Impact Award (formerly, Recognition Award), which commends those who better their community through service or philanthropy, and the Young Alumni Award, given to an alumnus 35 or younger who demonstrates excellent leadership in their chosen profession.

Just as Fairmount College transformed into the University of Wichita, and the University of Wichita into Wichita State University after successfully joining the state system in 1964, the Alumni Awards program, too, has evolved in the decades since its founding. What remains unchanging, however, is the illimitable pride we share in celebrating the one-of-a-kind alumni who constitute Shocker Nation, a privilege we continue to cherish.

View the complete list of WSU Alumni Award honorees at foundation.wichita.edu/alumni-awards

‘Architect’ of TRIO programs at WSU Deltha Q. Colvin advances educational opportunity

Amidst decades of building national racial tensions, Black students at Wichita State in the 1970s were not satisfied to simply dream of a better world. Instead, they sought to create one.

Among them was Deltha Q. Colvin ’72, a lifetime advocate for racial justice and equity, and recent retiree from Wichita State University. Colvin, who graduated from the first TRIO Upward Bound program, recalls how her time in TRIO helped her and her fellow classmates overcome hurdles limiting their access to education. “It was important to realize that there were others who were coming from similar backgrounds,” she says. “We never saw ourselves as disadvantaged. We just wanted to be the best we could be.”

After graduating with her bachelor’s degree in secondary education with an emphasis in English, Colvin joined the staff at Wichita State, dedicated to afford those same opportunities to future generations of students. She would do just that in her more than 50 years at the university, where she held a number of titles, including assistant vice president for campus life and university relations and, later, associate VP of student affairs. Though perhaps most salient of all was Colvin’s dedicated involvement in WSU’s federal TRIO programming.

Under Colvin’s direction, Wichita State adopted and expanded operations to 10 TRIO Upward Bound and three GEAR UP programs, tailored to the unique needs of underrepresented populations, serving first-generation and low-income students, student veterans and students with disabilities. “Deltha Colvin is the architect of TRIO programs at Wichita State,” says Corinne Nilsen, executive director of Kansas Kids @ GEAR UP and Colvin’s colleague of more than 30 years. “But her impact extends well beyond our university.”

It’s true. Colvin’s contributions over the decades gained her nationwide recognition as a trainer, presenter, conference chair, contributing author and consultant for TRIO programs and operations, with well-deserved accolades from the Mid-America Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel, Northwest Association of Special Programs, and the National Council of Educational Opportunity Associations. She also served on the Department of Education’s first Negotiated Rulemaking for Higher Education committee to address the Higher Education Act Reauthorization. Her legacy on campus is evident from her tribute paver in the Plaza of Heroines from the African/African American Faculty/Staff Association.

Colvin’s contributions have been of incalculable value to the Wichita community, Wichita State and the tens of thousands of matriculating students in the TRIO programs. “Many of these students have no idea what it takes to go to college, nor do they think a college education is even achievable for somebody in their situation,” Nilsen says. “Deltha has created a pathway for those who did not have a hand to guide them along the way.”

Wichita State bids farewell to Shirley Lefever and welcomes Monica Lounsbery

Waving Goodbye

After nearly 20 years, Wichita State bids farewell to Shirley Lefever, executive vice president and provost, who retired at the end of the 2024 calendar year. Lefever, a first-generation student and passionate advocate for education, taught as an elementary school teacher prior to receiving her doctorate in curriculum and instruction from Kansas State. As a faculty member at the University of Arkansas, she was responsible for developing graduate programs in the College of Education and Health Professions.

Supplied with a wealth of experience in teaching and curriculum development, she came to WSU in 2005 as department chair for Curriculum and Instruction and is credited with extending the focus of the WSU Professional Development School into an urban serving model. Within the College of Education (now, College of Applied Studies), she served as associate dean, senior associate dean and concurrent assessment coordinator, interim dean and dean. She was appointed interim executive vice president and provost in the fall of 2020 and instated as full EVP and provost in 2022.

Dr. Lefever was – and remains – a stalwart champion of Wichita State’s students. Throughout her tenure, she helped bolster the university’s inclusivity initiatives, K-12 outreach programs and innovative classroom and applied learning opportunities, which taken together cultivated the empowerment of students to achieve their fullest potential – academically, professionally and personally. As she often says, “It’s all about the students.”

Waving Hello

Monica Lounsbery assumed the role of senior executive vice president and provost at Wichita State at the beginning of the 2025 spring semester. Lounsbery joins from California State University, Long Beach, where she was dean of the College of Health and Human Services. Before joining CSU, she was a faculty member and administrator at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she held appointments as department chair, associate vice provost, vice provost and associate dean for faculty affairs in the School of Medicine.

Lounsbery, who holds a doctorate in sport pedagogy and educational research methods from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has been recognized as a fellow in three academic organizations, including the National Academy of Kinesiology. Her scholastic pursuits, focused on improving population-level health through physical activity, promote community growth and wellness. The new SEVP and provost says she is eager to help advance the university’s efforts at prioritizing accessibility and affordability for all students, increasing the economic prosperity for the communities it serves and contributing to the “trend-bucking trajectory” of Wichita State.

Joy of Giving

“Working in philanthropy, you witness so many defining moments and milestones,” says Darin Kater, senior vice president of development at the WSUFAE. And Kater, who oversees the organization’s gift development team, has seen no shortage of celebrations since joining the WSU Foundation in 2008.

Milestones not limited to enabling students to seize once-in-a-lifetime study abroad opportunities, present their work at symposiums and be the first in their family to walk the stage to receive their diploma; seeing new academic buildings, state-of-the-art sports complexes and student resource facilities rise on the campus skyline; and helping students and staff alike achieve their full potential through endowed scholarships and professorships – just to name a few.

“Seeing progress like this never gets old — never,” Kater says, warmly. “We’re privileged here at the WSUFAE to be able to celebrate these accomplishments alongside the people whose support helps make it all possible.”

Be a Part of the Change

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas has invested $2.5 million in Wichita State and its largest current capital campaign, the Wichita Biomedical Center, a joint venture with the University of Kansas and WSU Tech.

“Most of the biggest moments in our lives are tied to health care in some way,” says Matt All, president and CEO of BCBSKS. “The Wichita Biomedical Campus will help make those moments better for Kansans by training the health care workers of the future and empowering them with the best tools and research.”

$1.8 million of the BCBSKS gift is earmarked toward the outstanding $16 million project cost of the WBC, ensuring that clinical space is included in Phase I of its construction. The remaining $700,000 of the gift will establish two endowed nursing scholarships in the WSU College of Health Professions.

All adds, “We’re thrilled to be a part of making it happen.”

Dr. Lefever was – and remains – a stalwart champion of Wichita State’s students. Throughout her tenure, she helped bolster the university’s inclusivity initiatives, K-12 outreach programs and innovative classroom and applied learning opportunities, which taken together cultivated the empowerment of students to achieve their fullest potential – academically, professionally and personally. As she often says, “It’s all about the students.”

Michael Fischer

Michael Fischer ’91 believes in the power of paying it forward.

Fischer, who has supported several programs in the Barton School of Business since his graduation, is a partner at New York City offices of the London-headquartered Ernst & Young, a Big Four accounting firm with the likes of Deloitte, KPMG International Limited and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Fischer, who lives in Sarasota, Florida, has worked internationally for the firm in London, Frankfurt and Zurich. “I’ve had a great career at EY,” he says, “including both professional and personal opportunities.”

Now, the business administration alumnus is giving back to his alma mater with the largest planned gift in the history of the Barton School of Business’ school of accountancy. “I feel I owe much of my professional success to the education and career networking that Wichita State provided,” he says. A Neff scholar and member of Mortar Board Honor Society, the international business honor fraternity Beta Alpha Psi and the business honor society Beta Gamma Sigma while a Shocker student, Fischer adds, “I’m happy to be able to give back a little in gratitude to WSU for the critical part it played in my professional life.”

Donna Sweet

In the early years of the HIV/AIDS crisis, patients diagnosed with the then-mysterious and fatal disease were confronted with a health care system riddled with stigma, creating a very real barrier to accessing medical care.
But a handful of doctors around the world, including Dr. Donna Sweet ’70/72, set a new standard amidst the epidemic, one that met each patient with dignity, humanity and compassion.

Now 40 years into a career defined by altruism, Sweet is still not done.

The newly established Drs. Donna E. and George H. Sweet Professorship in Biological Sciences at Wichita State, created through a generous gift from Sweet, will provide support for a faculty member within the department of biological sciences. Sweet earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biological sciences, and her late husband, George ’60, taught in the department for nearly 30 years.

“I hope the department continues to support students in such a way that those who want to go on to medical school have the opportunity,” she says. “My goal is to make sure no matter their status or stature in life, people can be as productive and healthy and live as comfortably as possible.”

Sweet’s lifetime record of service and proven generosity are the building blocks to making it so.

Too Big to Dream Small

Ronald Baker ’15 is a big-time team player, no matter what team he’s on. Today, armed with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, the former Shocker basketball standout and NBA pro is setting up plays as a project manager in sports medicine for the strategy and business development team at Wichita’s Ascension Via Christi.

“The most valuable concepts and skills I learned while at Wichita State were teamwork, communication and networking,” Baker says. “Of course, we use teamwork and communication in sports, but it wasn’t until I joined Ascension Via Christi in 2021 that I truly saw how important these skills are in the business world.” Today, three years into his post-basketball career, Baker focuses on advancing projects for the Via Christi Foundation and Children’s Miracle Network and helping with the medical center’s programs in orthopedics, sports and occupational medicine. He also assists with Via Christi’s sponsorship of WSU athletics.

One of the most popular Shockers to ever wear WSU’s colors on the basketball court, Baker came to WSU from the small, western Kansas town of Scott City (population 3,816), where he played basketball, football and baseball in high school. Aided by a Citizen Potawatomi Nation scholarship, he arrived in Wichita in 2011. One of his first memories of campus was moving into Fairmount Towers. “My parents and two siblings helped me move in,” he says. “They could sense the nervousness I had pouring out of me. When we said our goodbyes, my dad gave me a hug and told me how much fun I was going to have that semester. He said the dorms were one of his favorite things about college. I didn’t know what to expect, but that semester I met two of my closest friends today.”

From that point on, Baker’s story as a WSU student-athlete has become part of Shocker basketball history and resonates with fans far and wide. A walk-on redshirt freshman, he was joined on the WSU team by fellow guard Fred VanVleet ’16 in 2012. By the time Baker and VanVleet were seniors on the Shocker squad, they had played in four NCAA Tournaments, including a storied run to the Final Four in 2013, and contributed to Wichita State’s winning three Missouri Valley Conference titles. In 2013-2014, they were key to the Shockers’ record-setting streak of 35 wins before losing an epic battle to Kentucky for a 35-1 season. They had become the highest profile duo of WSU All-American guards – ever.

“You could probably guess that my favorite memories as a college student took place on the basketball court. A day doesn’t go by where I don’t reflect back and truly miss playing with my WSU teammates,” Baker says. “Something I love more than our team’s success was sharing it with my friends and family. Seeing others who you truly care about be a part of your college experience — that’s a memory Wichita State provided, and I will always cherish.”

Baker played in the NBA Summer League to showcase his talents and signed with the New York Knicks for the 2016-2017 season, inking a two-year deal with the team that August. He spent three seasons in the NBA, playing for the Knicks and later for the Washington Wizards. He says his most satisfying accomplishment as a pro player “was getting my first NBA start in Madison Square Garden for the New York Knicks.”

Playing pro ball in the Big Apple was a big leap from growing up playing sports in the rural environs of western Kansas, Baker points out. Before he moved with his family to Scott City when he was in middle school, he lived on his family farm in Utica (population 158), a town where classes typically totaled not more than 10 students. “I was born and raised in Utica,” he says. “My grandparents still reside there and continue to farm and raise cattle.”

Now fully ensconced in a career outside of basketball, Baker says the most rewarding part of working at Ascension Via Christi is knowing that he is working with a genuine group who serve and care for their community. He values time spent with his wife, Olivia, and their daughter, Scottie, attending yoga, playing pool, golfing and spoiling their two dogs, Daizy and Sunday.

When asked about future hopes and dreams, the 2024 WSU Young Alumni Award recipient answers: “When I daydream about myself, I think of being successful within the Wichita community, raising a beautiful family and making the city better than we found it.” He adds, “This award brings to mind my parents, all my role models, coaches, professors and current peers. It simply shows that I have been fortunate enough to be surrounded by high character and service-minded people throughout my life.”

Opportunity begets opportunity

Junetta Everett ’79 has been guided by her personal ethics of hard work, service and commitment to diversity throughout her life, including a storied career of more than four decades in dentistry. The WSU alumna practiced as a dental hygienist before accepting a position at Delta Dental of Kansas (DDKS), the state’s largest dental insurance agency, where she worked for 33 years, including a 27-year tenure as the company’s vice president of professional relations.

Everett obtained her associate degree from Butler County Community College before enrolling in Wichita State’s dental hygiene program. She recalls a disturbing moment of prejudice from a professor in the program who advised her to reconsider her career path, lest her clients feel uncomfortable with having a person of color as their dental hygienist. “That moment has stayed with me and shaped my professional journey,” Everett said of the encounter. “It sparked my interest in diversity and showed me the importance of creating opportunities for others.”

In 1979 she graduated from Wichita State’s dental hygiene program: the first African American at her alma mater and in the state of Kansas to do so.

During her time at Wichita State, she helped raise awareness for issues faced by individuals with similar life experiences as her.

“I remember sharing with my class that, because I lacked the opportunity to go to a dentist often, I had never even heard of a dental hygienist prior to speaking with a WSU advisor,” she said. “My topic was selected for presentation at a table clinic in Los Angeles, where we were able to explain the role and importance of a hygienist.”

That same commitment to diversity has guided her throughout her career. As vice president of professional relations at DDKS, she not only oversaw – amongst many other initiatives – network development, dental insurance training, and implementing policies across local and national scales, but she also worked to introduce high schoolers to her field.

“I began recruiting more minorities and men to the female-dominated profession, in part by speaking to high school students about the WSU program and career possibilities in dental hygiene,” Everett said. “And I am pleased to know that 2023 was one of the most diverse classes in Wichita State’s dental hygiene program.”

Everett calls higher education a “life-changing opportunity,” and, in 2013, she established a scholarship to support dental hygiene students at Wichita State. She calls the gift one of her most satisfying achievements in her professional career.

“As a student at Wichita State University, the environment I was in challenged me to engage with peers from other backgrounds, teaching me how to approach problems from different perspectives,” she said. “Those experiences were invaluable and inspired me to impact the program.”

Although retired from DDKS, the alumna remains deeply connected to the health of the Wichita community and serves on several boards, including the Kansas Health Foundation, Wesley Hospital, Equity Bank, Wichita State University and the WSU Foundation and Alumni Engagement. She was also appointed as the first person of color to hold the board chair for the Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce in 2020. In between her many board engagements, she enjoys visiting her five sons and 11 grandchildren with her husband, Victor Everett ’79, a physical education alumnus and former Shocker track star.

“When we can, we still enjoy recounting stories with people from our college years,” she said. “Stories like my friends wondering about my sudden interest in track and field.”

For her dentistry career spanning more than four decades and its indelible impact within the community, Everett will be honored with the 2024 Alumni Achievement Award at the WSU Foundation and Alumni Engagement’s annual Heritage Gala.

“Receiving this award is profoundly meaningful to me, as it symbolizes not only my personal achievements but also the invaluable influence of those who have guided and inspired me throughout my journey,” the honoree said. “It motivates me to continue my commitment to serving the community and the university, and supporting others in their educational endeavors.”

Everett and her fellow 2024 Alumni Award recipients will be honored at the Heritage Gala on Tuesday, October 29. Buy your tickets to celebrate Wichita State’s changemakers and their achievements.

Seeing a difference in the world

Diana Ho ’16 remembers how the world changed when she put on a pair of glasses for the first time in third grade. She looked around the optometry office, amazed by the sudden clarity of the room’s detail, from the intricacies of the grain in the wood trim to the definition of the leaves on the tree outside the window.

In that moment, she knew she wanted to be an optometrist.

Today, Ho practices optometry at Adventure Dental and Vision, a pediatric clinic in Wichita, and also serves as clinical director for the Special Olympics Opening Eyes program, conducting vision screenings for athletes across Kansas.

“I consider my ability to practice optometry daily as my most satisfying achievement,” said the alumna. “Each day, I have the privilege of providing first-time glasses to help kids excel in school and sports, guiding patients to a greater understanding of their visual or systemic issues, and diagnosing and treating ocular diseases.”

But Ho’s path to her current role was not always paved. In addition to many lessons learned in the classroom, she sees grit and persistence as some of the most valuable concepts from her time as a biology student at Wichita State. As a part-time student with no professional credentials, she recalls the roadblock of securing experience in optometry.

“I called numerous offices until I finally found one willing to take a chance on me,” Ho said. “Coincidentally, the very office where I put on my first pair of glasses became my workplace when they hired me on as an optometric technician.”

In 2016, Ho graduated from Wichita State University with a bachelor’s degree in biology and minors in chemistry and sociology. From there, she attended the Rosenberg School of Optometry at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, graduating with her doctorate in 2020.

A passionate advocate for eye health, Ho uses her education to promote vision wellness in communities across the state and around the world, from glasses donation drives to events for the visually impaired. The optometrist has served as a translator at the Kansas Health Department’s Asian Wellness Day, providing free eye screenings to underserved community members. She also traveled to Patna, India, where she provided vision screenings and glasses to more than 1,100 schoolchildren and helped to raise money for Unite for Sight, a nonprofit creating more equitable access to eye health care services.

In addition to her many volunteer engagements, Dr. Ho has been invited as a guest speaker to high schools in the Wichita community where she connects students to vision care resources and educates them on the importance of eye health to the overall health of the body.

For her relentless health advocacy and service, both within the Wichita community and well beyond, Dr. Diana Ho is the 2024 Social Impact Alumni Award honoree.

“As a child of immigrants, this award represents the American Dream that my parents have worked so hard to achieve,” she said. “They dedicated themselves to creating a better life for me, and now I have the privilege of using my talents to extend that care to my patients.”

Join us as we honor our 2024 Alumni Award recipients at the second annual Heritage Gala on Tuesday, October 29. Learn more about this event and purchase your tickets to celebrate the changemakers at Wichita State.