By WNCC
SCOTTSBLUFF - The WNCC Alumni Association hosted its 9th Annual Alumni & Friends Awards Ceremony & Banquet on October 21, where it recognized the 2022 alumni award winners.
Richard Stickney received the 2022 WNCC Cara Perkins Meritorious Service Award. Stickney is a member of the Western Community College Area Board of Governors representing District 3.
Audrey Murphy accepted the 2022 WNCC Outstanding Young Alumnus Award. Murphy graduated from WNCC in 2007, earning a Business Administration degree. She currently serves as the Training Coordinator for Platte Valley Companies and also volunteers with the Rotary Club, and Rocky Mountain RYLA, a leadership camp for teenagers.
The 2022 WNCC Family Pride award was presented to the Richard and Anita Duncan family. Anita was the first to attend WNCC in 1958, then named Scottsbluff Junior College, before returning and earning an associate of arts in business in 1973. Her mother, Eunice, attended SJC to keep her teaching certificate and her father, Walter, earned his GED from WNCC when he was 75 years old. Anita's husband Richard was an employee of the college. Both their children, Floyd and James attended WNCC in the 1980s. The Duncan's also have grandchildren that have attended WNCC through the dual credit program.
Nancy Mayborn Peterson, author and class of 1954 graduate, received the 2022 WNCC Outstanding Alumnus award. Peterson has been a published writer for more than 40 years, having works appear in "The Reader's Digest," "American History," "Good Housekeeping," "The Denver Post's Empire Magazine" and many others. She has authored four books focusing on frontier history and historical fiction. Her most recent novel, Not to be Forgiven, was given a finalist award for Best First Novel in the 2014 nation-wide Next Generation Indie Book Awards Competition and earned the Best Adult Mainstream Novel by the Colorado Authors League.
Mary Barkeloo received the 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award. Barkeloo graduated from WNCC in 1971 before beginning to work for the college in 1983 as a vocational evaluator. Over 34 years of employment at the college, she held many titles and worked both in Student Services and Educational Services. She retired in 2017 as the Institutional Research Director.
“I believe that academic or vocational education can change lives and that scholarships can and do help students in their pursuit of education," Barkeloo said. "What a great place to start and at an affordable cost. For me and others I’m sure, attending WNCC was, is and will continue to be a great experience.”
The 2022 WNCC Friend of the College Award was presented to the Thomas D. Buckley Trust. To date, the Thomas D. Buckley Trust has given $47,900 toward scholarships for students at the Sidney Campus, spread across 128 students since 2011.
Organized in 2011, the WNCC Alumni Association has presented awards annually for the past nine years. Their mission is to provide opportunities for alumni and friends of WNCC to build lifelong relationships and support the College mission. If you would like more information on how you can be a part of the WNCC Alumni Association which hosts this event and many others, visit go.wncc.edu/alumni or contact Mary Sheffield, WNCC alumni & stewardship director at [email protected], or call 308-630-6571.