ASSOCIATION NEWS

President’s Column

Jill (Clark) Lucero
BS '90, Business Administration

  If her graduates think of the University with warmth and delight in the benefits she extended to them, the coin also has another side, for without alumni who remember, a University would not be worthy of the name."  Professor Deborah Hardy, "Wyoming University, the First 100 Years, 1886 - 1986"
  The University of Wyoming is definitely worthy of the name. I certainly remember, and am grateful for, everything our great institution has done for my family and me. I am the third generation to graduate from the university and to be on the UWAA board. My husband, Michael, and his daughter, Jackie Lucero Pauli, are also UW grads. I felt it was a natural progression to run for election to the UWAA board, and I am so proud to be serving as your president.
  My degree has given me the background to obtain a master's degree in business administration and to enjoy a career as a high school business teacher. With that type of history, I am obviously very interested in UWAA programs dealing with scholarships and student recruitment.  The state's Hathaway Scholarship program (see related Alumnews article in the June issue) will provide students with an unprecedented and outstanding opportunity to come to UW and obtain a higher education. Coupled with this funding, your association's scholarship program will be even stronger and more beneficial. As you may know, our program has provided more than $825,000 to UW in scholarship monies over the last two and a half decades.
  This spring semester we sponsored 34 outstanding UW students on scholarships.  These young people are active in extracurricular activities and must maintain high academic standing. The spring grades are in and the group averaged a 3.5 overall and eight students achieved a perfect 4.0. I can envision some of these students being the distinguished alumni of the future. You can help support this program by becoming an association member, if you are not one already, and by joining the Scholarship Club. Applications are available in this publication and on the UWAA Web site.
  Another area close to my heart is our student recruitment involvement.  We have a standing committee of the board whose focus is assisting UW with recruitment programs and projects. In conjunction with the UW Admissions Office, we are pleased to co-sponsor the Principal Counselor Student Conference dinner each year, and we also host Colorado counselors at their annual reception. We participate in the Wyoming School Board Fair and sponsor the Wyoming High School Music Educators' annual reception. Several alumni volunteers around the country attend high school college nights to promote UW. Members of our student alumni group visit with their high school counselors during visits home and volunteers contact Merit Scholar semi-finalists to encourage them to think about attending Wyoming. The UW Admissions Office coordinates with us during Homecoming to meet and greet school bands participating in the parade. We enclose “On Deck” cards from the admissions office in all of our membership materials mailings to encourage you to recommend good prospective students.  If you would like to help us with a college fair or other student recruitment activities, please call the Alumni House at 307-766-4166.
  Scholarship and student recruitment are only two of our areas of concentration. We also maintain updated information on our alumni for use by UW departments, recognize outstanding faculty, support and encourage the Greek system recruitment, sponsor Centennial Singers, promote UW's agenda with Wyoming State Legislators, sponsor alumni outreach and reunions across the country and produce the Alumnews four times annually.  This is just a small part of the UWAA does for alumni and the university, but I hope it brings you up to date on your organization, an organization of which you can be very proud.
  In order to maintain these successes, we need to have an active and dedicated board. I'd like to thank our retiring members who have given so much of their time and effort - thanks to Bob Archuleta, Paula Ferentchak Bowling, Judy Dixon, Keith Geis, Jacque Goodrich, Sheila McMillan, Phil Petersen, Ian Shaw, Denise Smith, Don Tranas and Ron Weinberg.  Our board couldn't do their jobs without the support of our great staff - thanks especially to Robbie, your executive director.
  I would like to welcome our newly elected members: Jan Cook, Barney Cosner, Kent Eberspacher, Lisa Esqubel, Veda Gerrard, Steven Kant, Ellen Nishi, Matt Petersen, Pam Reinemann and Joe Spiegelberg. I know they will enjoy their time on the board and find it to be a very rewarding experience. One of our main responsibilities is to sponsor Homecoming, and I'd like to invite you to come back to campus and celebrate this great event with us on Oct. 13 and 14.  Homecoming is a great time for all UW alumni who "think of the University with warmth and delight."
            GoWyo!