The University of West Florida hosted the 2023 Spirit of UWF Alumni and Community Awards ceremony on Oct. 6 at the Museum of Commerce in Historic Pensacola. The awards recognize those who work to contribute to the University, improve their communities and promote the Alumni Association.
“We are proud to celebrate the distinguished achievements of our alumni and community partners,” said Howard Reddy, vice president for University Advancement. “Recognizing those whose passion and purpose positively impacts the communities they serve is important.”
The Alumni Awards recognize those who excel in representing the UWF Alumni Association, the University, their respective communities and the more than 95,000 UWF alumni worldwide. Those eligible for nomination included UWF alumni, friends, faculty and staff.
The following alumni were named recipients of the Alumni Awards:
Outstanding Young Alumni
• Adelin Gasana ’08
• Kesley “Kali” Richardson ’16, ’19
Alumni Inclusion
• MiChele Stevenson ’87, ’89
• Dr. Michael F. Summers ’80, ’13
Alumni Community Spirit
• Hong Potomski ’07
• Chris Roney ’98
Distinguished Alumni
• William “Bill” McGinnis ’73
• Lindsley Armstrong Smith ’86, ’89
Chambered Nautilus Award of Merit
• Organization – Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz, PLLC
• Individual – Collier Merrill ’85
The Spirit of UWF Community Awards celebrate and strengthen collaborations between the University and the communities that UWF serves. Those eligible for nomination include businesses, organizations, agencies and individuals, along with UWF administrators, staff, faculty and students.
The following people or organizations were named recipients of the Spirit of UWF Awards:
• Community Engagement Educator — Dr. Patricia Barrington ’97, ’13
• Community Innovation — Dr. Tiffany Jackman
• Community Impact — Monica Woodruff ’23
• Research and Scholarship — Bonita Johnson
• Workforce and Career Development — Booz Allen Hamilton
• Public Service and Education — Sandra Donaldson ’01
• Quality of Life — Baptist Health Care
For more information about the Spirit of UWF and Alumni Awards, visit uwf.edu/spiritofuwf.
Baptist Health Care won UWF’s “Quality of Life” award? Really? Guess it all depends on what is meant by the words “Quality” and “Life.” As a reminder, it is Baptist Health Care that promised to provide a medical care capability to those living near the old hospital campus but did not. It built Medical Parks in Pace and at the Pensacola International Airport, the latter not far from the new hospital. Maybe it should be called the “Broken Promise” award? I wonder what Baptist offered UWF to get the award and who wrote the one letter of recommendation required to win the award? It is a public record held in the vault at UWF. Perhaps at some time in the future a member of the Baptist Health Care Foundation’s Board of Directors will make public the secret reports, agendas and meeting minutes going back perhaps to at least 2013 that might explain the following. First, why did the Baptist board breaks its promise to the community? I can see how the Baptist Leadership might be out of touch with the Black community. All of the top 19 executives are White. Baptist is very secretive about its hand-picked 17-member Board of Directors but an earlier picture when the board had 15 members does show 14 Whites and only one Black person. I presume that all are very wealthy people living in beautiful homes many in gated communities. Who in the community decides which people get appointed to the Baptist board that claims the “community” owns the hospital? Which community? The Baptist leaders seem to live in a world far apart from regular people. Second, why did the Baptist board announce in 2019 that it was going to spend $550 million to build a 650,000,000 square foot hospital and then spend more ($650 million) to build a smaller (602,000,000 square foot) hospital? What was supposed to be in those now missing 48,000 square feet? Patient rooms? Third, why did the Baptist board approve reducing the hospital’s patient bed capability from 520 (old) to 264 (new)? The “520” number is posted to the hospital’s history on the website but very conspicuously removed from the hospital’s history on the wall on the first floor of the Bear Family Foundation Health Center. What did the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners know when its own Escambia County Health Facilities Authority – whose board members are appointed by the commissioners – issued the tax-exempt bonds that mostly funded the new hospital? Were they kept in the dark? Did they want to be kept in the dark? Also, a big date to remember. On April 19, 2024, the Baptist Health Care Foundation is hosting an “invitation-only” Casino Royale gala at the Hilton Pensacola Beach. It would be very interesting to see if any Black people are invited to the gala and how many. https://www.baptisthealthcarefoundation.org/about/board-of-directors