Five to receive SMSU Homecoming Alumni Awards

Five individuals will receive Alumni Association awards at a Friday, Oct. 11 noon luncheon in the Conference Center Ballroom on the campus of Southwest Minnesota State University.

The event is part of Southwest Minnesota State University Homecoming activities, with a theme of “Mustangs Unite.” Alumni Achievement Awards are presented to alumni in recognition of professional success and the positive reflection made on the university and fellow alumni.

Alumni Achievement Award recipients include: Phyllis (Ostergaard) Hitchcock, a 1977 alumna who taught for 40 years in the Centennial, MN School District; Brian Luke, a 1975 alumnus now in his 44th year as the boys’ and girls’ swimming and diving teams coach at Stillwater High School; and Kristi Mukomela, a 1980 alumna and the President and CEO of Novation Credit Union, based in the Twin Cities.

Honorary Membership Awards are presented to individuals who are not SMSU graduates, but who give their time, talent and enthusiasm to the university. The Honorary Lifetime Membership Award recipient this year is Karen Sweetland, an avid SMSU supporter and the wife of the late SMSU President Doug Sweetland.

The Graduate of the Last Decade (GOLD) Award is presented to an individual who has distinguished him/herself in the last 10 years since graduating. This year’s recipient is Megan Seppmann, Vice President of Sales for the Wisconsin Center District, Milwaukee’s premiere event campus.