Impacting Lives, Shaping Futures
The impact of the UTC Honors College can be seen among its alumni at the annual Honors Gala. In 2023, nearly 100 Honors alumni and friends gathered in the Guerry Center, the program’s home, to reminisce and support this tight-knit community.
First envisioned by longtime Honors College champion Debbie Bell over ten years ago, Honors alumnae Elizabeth Maounis (‘06, ‘08) and Kelly Jo Fulkerson-Dikuaa (’06) adopted the Gala’s planning after Bell’s retirement to recreate some of the program’s nostalgia.
“Kelly Jo and I wanted to get involved because we love and respect our professors, and we wanted their good work to continue,” states Elizabeth.
One way that Elizabeth and Kelly Jo focused on sustaining the college’s work was to promote giving to the O’Dea Lecture in the Humanities series at the Gala. Named after UC Foundation Professor of English Gregory O’Dea, who also served the Honors College for more than 25 years, Gala attendees and other supporters raised over $34,000 for the new lecture series which will bring topics of language, literature, history, ethics, the arts and more to campus.
“The Gala has evolved into a full-scale fundraising event that demonstrates the passion those who go through our programs have,” states Dr. Linda Frost, dean of the UTC Honors College. “Our alumni are crazy dedicated to what we do and seeing them each year and hearing their stories reminds me of the power an honors experience has to change people’s lives for the better.”
The Gala has evolved into
a full-scale fundraising event that demonstrates the passion those who go through our programs have.
Linda Frost
Dean, Honors College
