On Friday, Oct. 26, Southeastern recognized its most outstanding graduates at the association’s Alumni Awards Evening, coordinated by Kathy Pittman and alumni staff. Multiple awards were given out, acknowledging the accomplishments of the alumni of Southeastern. This includes the Friendship Oak awards, given to Alpha Omicro Pi Society (being their fifty year anniversary) Rene Abrade, Joe Burns and Danny Heitman, the Director’s Diamond Award (Janet Moran), L.E. Chandler Award (Dawn Dottily Starkey) and the Distinguished Service Award (Brad Stevens).
Two of the most prestigious awards, the Young Alumnus Award and Alumnus of the Year, were presented that evening as well. Samantha Perez received the Young Alumnus Award while Hamilton Mixon was given the Alumnus of the Year. “For the Young Alumnus Award, the person has to be less than thirty-five years old, and they have to do something that’s unusual, a great accomplishment. For example, Samantha (Perez) wrote a book, and a documentary, and they published it. So that’s why she was selected. As far as the Alumnus of the Year, we look for someone that has done something pretty unique on an international level,” said Pittman, explaining the requirements of the two awards.
Samantha Perez graduated in 2010 and is currently a graduate student at Tulane, working on her doctoral dissertation. She is also an instructor of history at Southeastern. “Perfect. I loved this university for much and I was extremely involved,” said Perez when asked about her time spent at Southeastern as a student. One of her many accomplishments is the book she published, The Islenos of Louisiana: On the Water’s Edge; that along with her documentary, Louisiana’s Lost Treasure: The Islenos, what separated her from the rest in the running for the Young Alumnus Award. “To be honest, I feel honored. I don’t feel like I deserve this because I know how many other alumni have accomplished so much, and the fact that I was chosen by the association means so much to me because I care so much about Southeastern,” said Perez.
Hamilton Mixon graduated from Southeastern in 1979. “There was a lot of interaction; I had a great time here. Spent a lot of time in the music departments and with my criminal justice colleagues. It was a small enough university where you got to know people,” Mixon said, after being asked about his time spent at Southeastern. He is currently doing international consulting for Risk Management and Corpus Security. The last company he worked for was in charge of global security for Facebook, later on serving as director for Oracle Corporation, the multi-national computer technology company. He spent a lot of time in his earlier years at first in law enforcement, then later in the corporal world for about twenty years. “I had a very fortunate career; I’ve had a lot of wonderful opportunities that all started here at Southeastern,” said Mixon. The Alumnus of the Year Award winner claims to have been blown away when finding out about the award, saying it was both humbling and gratifying to receive such an honor.
Also, some of our very own students represented the best of Southeastern that night, receiving recognition and scholarships for their achievements during their time at Southeastern. These students include Renee Picou, (Miss Southeastern), Keonte Herrera, Greg Cavetto, (current SGA president), Branden Summers (former SGA president),  Lindsay Clark, Amberlee Collard, Katie Patton, Brandi Kenworthey and Kalandra Valentine.