Wittenberg's 2018 Homecoming and Reunion Weekend, slated for Oct. 4-7, will reunite hundreds of alumni on campus, as well as honor six distinguished individuals.
A recognition ceremony will take place during the Legacies and Leadership: A Celebration of Philanthropy from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Oct. 6, in the tent on Chapel Lawn.
Alicia Hupp, class of 1982, will receive the Alumni Association’s most prestigious recognition, the Class of 1914 Award, given to individuals who have served Wittenberg above and beyond what might be expected of any contributor to the college’s welfare.
Hupp serves as CEO and president of the Springfield, Ohio-based Sweet Manufacturing Company. Active in the Springfield community, including serving on several area boards, she has been recognized repeatedly for her work and commitment to her hometown. A member of the Wittenberg Board of Directors, Hupp was inducted into the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame in 2013. She and her family were recently honored for their lead gift to establish Wittenberg’s COMPASS: Sweet Success Center, a first-stop resource for hundreds of students in Thomas Library in 2017.
Bob Graeter, class of 1977, and his brother, Chip Graeter, class of 1986, will each receive an Alumni Citation award, given to those who have brought honor to Wittenberg with their exceptional accomplishments in which service to humanity is placed above personal gain or recognition.
Bob, who majored in biology at Wittenberg, earned his MBA at the University of Michigan, before joining the family business, Graeter’s Ice Cream. As a fourth-generation Graeter, Bob began furthering the legacy of his great-grandfather Louis Graeter, by managing the Springdale Graeter’s location, starting in 1979. Since then, Bob, a certified food scientist, has held numerous positions within the company, and currently holds the titles of chief of quality assurance and vice president of operations.
Chip Graeter, who earned his B.A. in speech and theater, is very involved in his community in and around Madeira, Ohio. A fourth-generation member of the Graeter family to own and operate the business, Chip is honored to have grown up in a family business that has been fortunate enough to see great success and popularity in Ohio over the past 142 years. He has been involved in guest interaction at Graeter's retail stores since his teenage years and currently works with a retail team as well as the sales staff to ensure patrons are included in the Graeter's experience.
The Outstanding Young Alumni award will be presented to Aaron Davis, class of 2005. Davis, originally from Springfield, Ohio, works at the Maryland Department of Health, Center for HIV Prevention and Health Services. During his time at Wittenberg, he was a member of the IMANI Gospel Choir and Concerned Black Students. After graduating from Wittenberg, Associate Dean John Young, who recently retired, encouraged Davis to apply for a position at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine prompting him to move to Baltimore. He worked at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health for four years before taking a position with the state health department. The Young Alumni award was created to recognize outstanding achievements of young alumni in their profession, vocation or avocation and is awarded to alumni who have graduated in the past 15 years.
Others to be recognized this year include Margaret Coleman as the Honorary Alumni Award recipient and Adam Parker, who earned the Distinguished Teaching Award, the top faculty prize at Wittenberg.
For African-American students attending Wittenberg in the 1970s, Coleman was a one-woman support system. Working alongside Dean Edwin Heusinkveld, she was the first counselor for the Concerned Black Students organization. To many she served as surrogate mother, guidance counselor, cheerleader, drill sergeant, referral source, resume reference, confidant, and friend at Wittenberg. Her son, William Hardin, class of 1971, was a founder of Concerned Black Students. Coleman was a reassuring presence on campus and always had a student’s best interest at heart.
Parker, professor of mathematics and department chair of mathematics and computer science, came to Wittenberg in 2005 as an assistant professor. He is an honorary member of Wittenberg class of 2013 and holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin. He earned a B.S. in both mathematics and psychology from the University of Michigan, is a published writer and has been the recipient of various prestigious honors such as the 2014 MAA George Polya Award for his article Who Solved the Bernoulli Differential Equation, and How Did They Do It? He also received the 2008 Excellence in Teaching Award from the Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education. He is a member of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America and has been an appointed member of the MMA nominating committee since 2016.
To register for the Legacies and Leadership: A Celebration of Philanthropy, click here.
For more information on this year’s homecoming events go to www.wittenberg.edu/homecoming.
