For the last 41 years, the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity and Friends of the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) have hosted Celebration, F茅te, and Honors, a dinner and scholarship fundraiser that honors the academic excellence of EOP students and champions of diversity.
Over 400 community members, business patrons and university representatives attend Celebration each year. Its success would not be possible without the contributions of special EOP alumni who volunteer to assist with various aspects of the event, and this year was no different.
Cameron Wong, 鈥�93, and Raychael Jensen, 鈥�06, served as co-emcees and added their personal touch to the program by sharing some of their experiences as EOP students. Wong, a former Husky football player as well, is currently a senior account executive with the Washington IMG College Sports Network and a former anchor with FSN (Fox Sports Net). Jensen, a recipient of the 2005 Vice President鈥檚 Achievement Award presented at Celebration, is a policy analyst with Education First Consulting.
Nate Miles, 鈥�82, also participated in the program, leading the auction-style 鈥渁sk鈥� and helping OMA&D raise funds for future EOP scholarships. A distinguished alumnus who represents OMA&D as a 91探花Foundation Board director, Miles is the director of state government affairs for the Northwest Region of Eli Lilly.
Angela King, 鈥�95, a reporter and anchor for Q13 Fox News in Seattle, served as the narrator for two short films shown during Celebration. These films highlighted the achievements of the 2011 Charles E. Odegaard Award recipient, Assunta Ng, 鈥�74, 鈥�76, and the 2011 EOP recognition scholarship recipients. A long-time supporter of Celebration, King has previously served as an emcee for the event. Like Jensen, she is a former Celebration honoree as well, receiving the 1994 President鈥檚 Achievement Award, the top student scholar honor handed out during the program.
Other notable alumni included Ng, the honored guest of the evening who 鈥渨owed鈥� those in attendance with a surprise donation to the EOP Scholarship Fund during her Odegaard Award acceptance speech.
Former EOP student Eleanor Nelson, 鈥�81, offered remarks on behalf of presenting sponsor Wells Fargo. Nelson is the vice president and human resources manager for Wells Fargo in Washington.
Marlyn Del Cid, 鈥�08, program coordinator with the OMA&D Ethnic Cultural Center, helped present awards to the student scholarship recipients. Assisting Del Cid with the student award presentation were Carol Bailey, FEOP Board President, and Kristian Wiles, TRiO Student Support Services Director. Bailey also helped present the Odegaard Award to Assunta Ng.
View a full recap of Celebration 2011.
Photos by Mary Levin, 91探花Photography