Cover Story…12–13 | Homecoming - University of the District of ...

Alumni news
UDCNAS puts on the ritz
for Homecoming ’09!
The opening event for the University
of the District of Columbia’s
Homecoming Week did not disappoint!
The UDCNAS Alumni
Dinner-Dance on Oct. 24 had all the
characteristics expected of a fine affair,
and remarks by the association’s president,
Michael Woodard, PhD, ’72
alluded to the impact alumni have
on the future of an institution that
is ready for today’s world.
Woodard and other alumni, their
friends, 2009 Distinguished Alumnus
Maj. Gen. Errol R. Schwartz ’80,
and the keynote speaker, DC City
Councilman-At-Large Michael Brown
graced the black-tie event at the
Hilton Washington, DC/Silver Spring
hotel with aplomb. Woodard made it
clear to his audience—which included
Dr. Jonathan Gueverra, CEO of the
new Community College, and Dr.
Valerie L. Epps, vice president for
student affairs—that alumni of this
unique institution for higher learning
have made outstanding contributions
in their professions. Woodard noted
that their far-reaching accomplishments—Maj.
Gen. Schwartz and
others have been acknowledged on
the world’s stage—were signposts
that the University was poised for
further greatness in academia.
During the program portion of the
night, the founding members of
UDCNAS were honored for the
work they had accomplished in giving
all alumni a focal point that has positioned
the University’s graduates to
ponder, plan and implement great
things for the University’s future.
After a delicious dinner, the atmosphere
livened up as students and
everyone else had a chance to really
celebrate by dancing to the records
spun by DJ Lorenzo Roach. The
evening concluded with alumni vowing
to pay homage to their alma mater
by having a repeat performance next
year. Proceeds from the event go toward
the establishment of the alumni organization’s
endowed scholarship fund.
6
Pictured above left: UDCNAS President Michael Woodard ’72 (left) and Gregory Evans ’06 (right) flank some of
the founding members of UDCNAS, L–R: Herman “Rip” Preston ’75, Georgia J. Herron ’46, Cheryl Hawkins ’93,
Cornett Njoku ’96, Theresa N. Travis ’77 and ’90, and Carrington Smith ’73.
Above right: Alumni Dinner-Dance keynote speaker City Councilman-At-Large Michael Brown (left) and UDCNAS
President Michael D. Woodard ’72