8/8/22
By FHSU Alumni Affiliation
Hays, Kan. – Six Fort Hays State College alumni will likely be honored on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022, on the Alumni and Buddies Awards Banquet throughout Homecoming. For particulars on how one can assist have fun these award winners throughout FHSU’s Homecoming, go to www.FHSUHomecoming.com.
4 Alumni Achievement Award recipients will likely be acknowledged: John L. Allen ’89, Rome, Italy; Dr. Judith Billings ’65, Kearney, Nebraska; Mike McCarthy ’89, Frisco, Texas.; and Donald J. Richardson ’67, Phoenix, Arizona.
The Alumni Achievement Award, the affiliation’s highest recognition, was established in 1959 to acknowledge graduates of the college for excellent achievement primarily based on meritorious service to society or the neighborhood. The award relies upon profession and private achievements, service involving neighborhood betterment and philanthropic actions, and academic achievements.
Younger Alumni Award recipients embrace Tory Marie (Arnberger) Blew ’16, Nice Bend, and Brandon Penny ’13, New York.
The Younger Alumni Award was designed to acknowledge graduates early of their careers who’ve had excellent achievements and up to date accomplishments. The award relies on skilled and academic achievements, neighborhood actions, honors and awards obtained, and different noteworthy gadgets of benefit since commencement. Candidates should maintain a bachelor’s diploma from FHSU inside 15 years of the present award yr and be below the age of 40 as of Jan. 1, the yr the awards are offered.
Deciding on the homecoming awardees is a difficult activity, as Fort Hays State has so many excellent graduates and mates who need to be acknowledged. This yr’s recipients stood out as inventive, inspiring, and hardworking leaders of their respective communities, stated Carolyn Tatro, alumni engagement strategist for the FHSU Alumni Affiliation. “We’re extremely proud to honor their successes and to share their tales this yr. We hope that the general public will take the chance to get to know these nice Tigers as we have fun them throughout Homecoming 2022.”
Homecoming 2022 Honoree Profiles:
Alumni Achievement Award
John L. Allen Jr. ’89
From the western plains of Kansas to the streets of Rome, John L. Allen Jr, a 1989 FHSU alumnus and Hays native, has seen the evolution of his academic profession proper as much as the steps of the Vatican.
Allen, a 1983 Thomas Extra Prep-Marian graduate, got here to Fort Hays State College to review philosophy. Earlier than he completed his undergraduate diploma, Allen’s curiosity in politics drew him to Washington, D.C., for 3 years. Following his commencement from FHSU, he went on to review on the College of Kansas, the place he graduated in 1992 with a grasp’s diploma in non secular research.
His ardour for journalism led him to show journalism at Notre Dame Excessive College in Sherman Oaks, California, the place he additionally supervised the student-run newspaper, The Knight. His journalism abilities grew to become nationally recognized following the loss of life of Pope John Paul II, the place his commentary appeared continuously on cable-news conglomerate CNN.
He later grew to become the senior Vatican analyst for CNN and lectured frequently on Vatican Points. Allen additionally wrote quite a few Vatican-centered items for The Boston Globe because the publication’s affiliate editor. Allen used these skilled experiences and his training to transition Crux, an internet site that was began for The Boston Globe, into a completely impartial web site that provides impartial protection of the Vatican and the Catholic Church.
Allen possesses the mental property of the Crux web site. He and his spouse, Elise, dwell in Rome and report goal information on the Vatican for Crux. Allen seems weekly within the web site’s podcast-like video collection, “Final Week within the Church with John Allen Jr.” the place he reviews on the most recent information within the Vatican Metropolis.
Late liberal commentator Fr. Andrew Greeley referred to as Allen’s writing “indispensable,” whereas the late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, a conservative, referred to as Allen’s reporting “probably the most effective supply of data on the Vatican printed in the US.” Kenneth Woodward of Newsweek described Allen as “the journalist different reporters–not only a few cardinals–look to for the within story on how all of the pope’s males direct the world’s largest church.”
Allen’s work has appeared in different publications, together with The New York Occasions, The Washington Publish, The Wall Road Journal, NPR, and extra. He has authored eleven books about Vatican-related matters, from the Pope to the way forward for the Catholic Church. A few of his hottest embrace his works about Pope Benedict XVI and, most lately, his e book “The Francis Miracle: Contained in the Transformation of the Pope and the Church,” which has obtained optimistic acclaim.
Allen holds honorary doctorates from 5 establishments. He continues to write down, edit, and produce for Crux. Allen needs to dedicate this award to his mom, Laura Ileene Allen, who died in 1999 after being a school member within the Division of Nursing at Fort Hays State within the Nineteen Seventies, 80s, and 90s. Allen says his mom, “Beloved FHSU deeply, and the entire Allen household is grateful for the way in which the college took care of her in return.”
Judith “Judy” (Sims) Billings ’65
Few folks acknowledge their calling in life at age six. One exception, nonetheless, is FHSU 1965 alumna Judith “Judy” (Sims) Billings. All through her life, Billings adopted her ardour for nursing to coach and serve her neighborhood.
Even at a younger age, Billings understood her function in life: to serve others by way of nursing. Billings first put her desires into motion as an help within the Smith County Memorial Hospital earlier than attending Fort Hays State to review nursing. Following her commencement in 1965, Billings moved to Kearney, Nebraska, the place she labored as a nurse at Good Samaritan Hospital. It was right here she started contemplating a profession in training.
Billings started educating future nurses in 1968 at St. Francis College of Nursing in Grand Island, Neb. After finishing her grasp’s and doctorate levels on the College of Minnesota in Minneapolis, she taught at South Dakota State College in Brookings, South Dakota.
In 1976, Billings continued her skilled profession at Kearney State Faculty (aka College of Nebraska Kearney), the place she served as an teacher and division chair. Throughout that point, she developed and managed the primary bachelor’s diploma program west of Lincoln, Nebraska. By the point Billings retired from 40 years in nursing and nursing training in 2005, she noticed the commencement of greater than 1,000 college students from the Kearney program.
Dr. Clark, who labored alongside Billings at Kearney State Faculty stated, “Due to her imaginative and prescient of what nursing service could be, the kind of curriculum she developed, and the folks she recruited, we’ve produced an incredible cadre of nurses. The driving pressure for assembly that purpose actually was Judy Billings.”
Billings’ work has additionally been acknowledged by a myriad of honors and awards, together with the Nebraska Nurses Affiliation Excellent Achievement in Nursing Award, Kearney State Faculty’s Council of Deans Distinguished Service Award, Nebraska Nurse’s Affiliation Excellent Nurse Educator Award, the Freedom Award for Excellent Volunteer Service, and extra. She was additionally invited to Washington, D.C., to take part in a assume tank about the way forward for affected person/household council care in communities.
After her retirement in 2005 from the College of Nebraska Medical Middle Faculty of Nursing Kearney, Billings has remained lively in neighborhood service tasks, serves on a number of guilds and church committees, and frequently volunteers in quite a few positions for CHI Good Samaritan Hospital. In her free time, Billings enjoys studying, touring, stitching, and quilting.
Billings lives in Kearney and has 5 kids.
Mike McCarthy ’89
Not every single day does Fort Hays State College have fun an alumnus who has efficiently coached Nationwide Soccer League groups just like the Inexperienced Bay Packers, the San Francisco 49ers, the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs, the New Orleans Saints, and the Dallas Cowboys throughout their tenure. 1989 alumnus, Mike McCarthy, has tied his life expertise of changing into a head soccer coach within the NFL together with his training at Fort Hays state.
Born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, with a father who labored in public security and a mom who labored for the state, McCarthy and his 4 siblings grew up working to make their neighborhood stronger. Whether or not it was in athletics, politics, or fundraising, your complete household strove to offer again.
After graduating from Bishop Boyle Excessive College in Homestead, Pennsylvania, McCarthy pursued his undergraduate diploma and performed as a good finish at Baker College in Baldwin Metropolis. By the tip of his time at Baker, McCarthy had earned a level in enterprise administration, was acknowledged as a Nationwide Affiliation of Intercollegiate Athletics Division II nationwide runner-up, and was senior captain of his group.
McCarthy then moved on to FHSU and joined John Vincent in teaching the Tigers for the 1987 and 1988 seasons as a graduate teaching assistant. McCarthy labored in the direction of a grasp’s diploma in sports activities administration and spent his time teaching linebackers. He graduated from FHSU in 1989 and additional pursued his training on the College of Pittsburgh, the place he labored as a graduate assistant for 3 seasons earlier than teaching large receivers for the 1992 season.
McCarthy joined the Chiefs in 1993 as a top quality management assistant by head coach Marty Schottenheimer. Through the 1993 and 1994 seasons, McCarthy labored with Corridor of Famer Joe Montana. He stayed with the Chiefs till 1999 when he grew to become the Inexperienced Bay Packer quarterback coach, the place he coached one other Corridor of Famer, Brett Favre.
From 2000-04, McCarthy labored for the New Orleans Saints. In his first season as offensive coordinator, McCarthy was named NFC Assistant Coach of the Yr by USA As we speak. He then spent 2005 with the San Francisco 49ers as offensive coordinator earlier than returning to Inexperienced Bay as Head Coach.
McCarthy served for greater than twelve years as Packers head coach, one in every of its most profitable stretches in franchise historical past. Together with future Corridor of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the Packers received the Tremendous Bowl in 2011. McCarthy joined Vince Lombardi and Mike Holmgren as the one coaches to information the Packers to a Tremendous Bowl win.
In 2020, McCarthy was named head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
McCarthy and his spouse, Jessica, have 5 kids. Collectively, they created the McCarthy Household Basis. The Basis’s outreach supported the American Household Youngsters’s Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, the Seven Loaves Venture in Rwanda, and donated $100,000, which was matched by the Inexperienced Bay Packers, to the Inexperienced Bay Police Basis. This funding supported outreach packages meant to construct neighborhood relations and offered bias prevention coaching for the officers.
Donald Richardson ’67, ’67, ’71
Donald Richardson, an FHSU 1967 and 1971 alumnus, has shared his love of the written language together with his college students for greater than fifty years as a professor at Phoenix Faculty in Arizona.
Richardson, a LaCrosse native, has cultivated a permanent relationship with studying way back to his highschool days. Richardson’s highschool teacher, Ray Newton, praised his tutorial success saying, “I doubt that another FHSU graduate has such an in depth publication document of each scholarly-academic publications in addition to novels.”
Richardson obtained twin Bachelor of Arts levels in English and Communication in 1967 and subsequently earned his Grasp of Arts diploma in English in 1971 at Fort Hays State College. This set the muse to pursue a Ph.D. at Arizona State College in Phoenix, Arizona, the place he would in the end take up a professorship at Phoenix Faculty.
Along with his lifelong continued training, Richardson is a prolific author with greater than 39 accomplished Shakespeare Editions, amongst different publications. He has been inducted into the Phoenix Faculty Corridor of Fame, has obtained the Phoenix Chapter President’s Award a handful of occasions, and has been nominated a number of occasions for the Phoenix Faculty Excellent Instructor of the Yr.
Although he’s an Arizona transplant, Richardson has remained a proud Fort Hays State Tiger, a reality he’s made recognized amongst his hundreds of scholars and acquaintances.
As a nimble 79-year-old man, Richardson reveals no indicators of retirement. He continues to write down, publish, and educate future generations of scholars whereas engaged on many neighborhood betterment tasks. In his free time, Richardson sings in each choirs and barbershop quartets, volunteers for Duet and the United Methodist Church Outreach Mission Program, and frequently donates blood.
Richardson lives in Phoenix and has 4 kids.
Younger Alumni Awards
Tory Marie (Arnberger) Blew ’16
Tory Marie (Arnberger) Blew, a Nice Bend native, exemplifies how a level from Fort Hays State College can form one’s life. Throughout her time at FHSU, Blew was a member of quite a few on-campus organizations equivalent to Delta Zeta and the Scholar Authorities Affiliation. She was a VIP ambassador for the Workplace of the President and served as an orientation chief for over two years.
Blew additionally served as an intern for the Kansas Division for Youngsters and Households in Topeka, the place she carried out varied duties to help the Governor’s Internship Program and attended baby help dockets to study the authorized facets of the company. Moreover, Blew is a graduate of the 2018 class of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Public Excellence collection and graduated from Kansas Rising Leaders in 2021.
Her involvement on the Fort Hays State campus advanced into an curiosity in native politics. At age 23 and in her senior yr of faculty, Blew ran for a seat within the 112th district within the Kansas Home of Representatives and received.
Since, Blew obtained her Bachelor of Science diploma in Enterprise Training, grew to become a instructor, and is a DECA (previously, Distributive Training Golf equipment of America) advisor in a rural faculty district. She was the youngest Kansas legislator from 2017-20. For the 2021-22 legislative session, Blew was assigned to the home federal and state affairs committee, the place she served as vice-chair. She additionally served on the final authorities funds and well being and human providers committees.
In 2022, Blew sponsored 10 payments and was elected as home majority whip. Blew lately filed for re-election and is working unchallenged in her district. Her present time period ends Jan. 8, 2023. When Blew filed for re-election in District 112, she stated, “Earlier than going away for school, I all the time knew I’d return to my hometown. I like this neighborhood and cherish the relationships I’ve with my constituents – and I’ll proceed to battle for points essential to our district all through my subsequent time period.”
She stays dedicated to being a vocal advocate for second modification gun rights, psychological well being, and restricted authorities.
Blew maintains a detailed relationship along with her “legislative mother,” 105th district consultant Brenda Landwehr. Landwehr describes Blew as “a shiny spot. At all times upbeat. She works arduous, and she or he’s enjoyable.”
“She all the time appears for options. She’s not afraid to ask questions, and she or he’s all the time keen to study,” Landwehr added.
“Blew is considerate in her connections and mentorships and needs everybody round her to succeed and can assist folks try this.”
Blew resides in her hometown of Nice Bend and serves as a board member for the Nice Bend Chamber of Commerce and Financial Growth whereas working full-time as a human assets director for Pryor Automated Fireplace and Sprinkler. She additionally works because the recruitment and philanthropy advisor for her native Delta Zeta sorority chapter.
When she isn’t engaged on her {many professional} endeavors, Blew could be discovered cooking, on the golf course, or along with her husband, Justin, transforming their first house.
Brandon Penny ’13
Assured, intelligent, and artistic are only a few methods to explain Brandon Penny, a 2013 FHSU alumnus initially from Burlington, Colorado. Penny has translated his eye for design into a long-lasting profession in New York Metropolis, the place he has been designing for Saks Fifth Avenue since 2018 and was lately promoted to senior designer. His work frequently seems to hundreds of thousands in emails, junk mail items, catalogs, retailer signage, web site content material, social media, and extra.
Penny joined the artwork and design program at FHSU to earn his bachelor of wonderful arts in graphic design. He was concerned and engaged in his training and extra-curricular actions whereas at Fort Hays State.
Penny was a member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), and his inventive facet prolonged to the performing arts, the place he was a member of the Fringe Theatre Firm, performing in performs and musicals and designing the present posters and packages because the theatre promoting and publicity director.
Following commencement from FHSU in Could 2013, Penny moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., touchdown his first inventive internship at OpenSky as an unpaid manufacturing graphic designer. A retail job at The Container Retailer in gross sales/visible merchandising paid the payments and paved the way in which to a contract gig as an assistant at The Society of Publication Designers (SPD).
It was his connections at SPD that landed him a job as Billboard journal’s first-ever design intern. Whereas at Billboard, Penny acquired an internship with Decker Design, later leaving each when the inventive director of Individuals journal reached out and introduced him on as a full-time design and photograph intern.
He then designed for Curioos, an internet market for distinctive wall artwork created by hundreds of rising artists from all around the world. His most up-to-date position with Saks permits him to merge design and advocacy. His present obligations embrace jewellery, a high-profile class, whereas concurrently proudly owning enterprise development by way of redesigned loyalty program collateral.
In June, Saks celebrated Satisfaction Month, and Penny designed the marketing campaign that featured distinguished figures within the LGBTQ+ neighborhood, of which he’s a member. He can be part of the corporate’s Range, Fairness, and Inclusion group.
In his nomination letter, Vincent Bowhay talked about, “Brandon’s consideration to element and design are very good, and he brings a stage of positivity to the whole lot he does, which I consider makes him most worthy of this distinguished award.”
Angel Han, Saks senior design supervisor, and Penny’s direct supervisor, echoed Bowhay’s sentiments, saying, “Brandon Penny is a real gem, and I’m so fortunate to have him on the design group. The vitality, ardour, and enthusiasm he brings make Saks a greater place for everybody.”
She added, “Irrespective of how tough or difficult the duty, Brandon takes on each challenge with a way of collaboration, dedication, and a willingness to study. I’m so proud to see how a lot he has grown as a designer and as an individual over time.”
Penny is the son of Susanne and the late Norman Penny and brother to Christopher and Danielle.
You’ll be able to view Penny’s work by visiting behance.internet/brandonpenny.
