Each year during Homecoming and Reunion Weekend, Kalamazoo College recognizes alumni whose accomplishments, service and achievements bring honor and distinction to the College and represent the lasting value of a K education. The Alumni Association will present its 2026 Distinguished Alumni Awards on Friday, October 23, recognizing these honorees:
- Tom Evans, the Weimer K. Hicks Award. This award honors a current or retired employee who has provided long-term support to College programs or activities beyond the call of duty while offering excellent service in the performance of their job. Evans devoted 29 years to teaching, conducting and building a musical community at K, where his popular Beginning Band course once enrolled a record 137 students and his jazz bands performed locally and internationally. His impact extends throughout greater Kalamazoo through more than two decades directing the Kalamazoo Concert Band and other community work that earned him the Community Medal of Arts Award in 2020.
- Charlotte H. Hall ’66, the Distinguished Service Award. The honor recognizes individuals who have made exceptional volunteer contributions to K. Hall served the College as a trustee for 27 years and as the Board’s first female chair. She championed broad representation and helped guide presidential leadership. A trailblazing newspaper executive, she became the first woman to serve as managing editor of Newsday and as editor and executive vice president of the Orlando Sentinel, while earning national recognition for advancing newsroom diversity and directing Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative work.
- Roy Yewah ’13, the Young Alumni Award. The citation awards a K alum within 15 years of their graduation for outstanding achievement; personal growth in their career; or outstanding professional, civic and cultural service. Yewah has built a distinguished career in corporate finance, investment banking, restructuring and mergers and acquisitions, earning honors from Challenge Detroit and Ford’s Thirty Under 30 program. In Chicago, he strengthens his community by supporting emerging Black chefs through the Soulful Supper Club and mentoring high school students from underserved areas through iMentor.
- Anthony Asher ’82, the Distinguished Achievement Award. The honor recognizes alumni who achieve distinction in their professional fields. Asher has made transformative contributions to neurosurgery, including developing brain-tumor treatments that became standards of care and founding major programs in neuro-oncology, surgical education and clinical outcomes research. Awarded the 2026 Cushing Medal, the highest honor of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, he credits his K education in biology, religion and experiential learning with shaping an integrated approach to science, medicine and humanity. His career has advanced patient care and strengthened the broader medical community by connecting discovery, clinical practice, education, technology and organizational leadership.
Athletic Hall of Fame
Six individuals and four women’s soccer teams will be inducted into the College’s Athletics Hall of Fame during the Distinguished Alumni Awards.
- Brian Bazzell ’11, a four-year letter winner, three-time all-conference swimmer and 18-time All-American between seven events, helped the Hornets achieve their best national championship meet finishes in program history. One of only 25 Hornet scholar-athletes to receive an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, he developed an accomplished career as a clinical pharmacist, treating patients with blood cancers.
- Mark Ghafari ’14 was a three-time men’s basketball captain and two-time Academic All-American who later played professionally overseas. He extended his impact through coaching a national championship-winning wheelchair basketball team and co-founding a growing financial consulting and investment firm with offices in three cities.
- Tristyn (Edsall) Gross ’17 earned all-conference honors in each of her swimming seasons, becoming the first female Hornet named the MIAA’s Most Valuable Swimmer. She qualified for the NCAA Division III national championships four times. Her accomplishments extended beyond the pool through a Senior Integrated Project promoting swimming instruction and water-safety education for underserved youth and a capstone project that inspired a new product line for Stormy Kromer. She’s now a consumer care content coordinator for BISSELL Homecare.
- James Peters ’66 (posthumous) had a standout basketball career in which he captained the Hornets and earned first-team All-MIAA honors. He became one of the program’s earliest players to surpass 1,000 points and 500 rebounds before he coached the first-year team for two years. He built a distinguished national career in corporate sales and training materials.
- Dimeko Price ’13 was a two-time All-MIAA First Team running back and one of just 48 Division III players selected for the postseason Bowl of Stars. His community impact includes serving at-risk students through Boys Town California and co-owning The Recovery Den, a Michigan wellness center serving student-athletes, first responders and others.
- Jackie Short ’13 earned All-MIAA recognition in each of her four soccer seasons, ranking second nationally with eight game-winning goals as a junior and being named the College’s Outstanding Female Athlete as a senior. An accomplished student-athlete, she has built a career in hospital information technology and now serves as a systems architect at Henry Ford Health, while presenting nationally on medical-charting initiatives. She has also served for five years as an assistant soccer coach at two schools in Troy.
- The 1996–1999 women’s soccer teams compiled an impressive record of 66-9. They captured two conference championships, won three in-season invitational tournaments and made three consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division III Regional Tournament. Their remarkable runs included two 16-game unbeaten streaks, 22 straight road victories, 10 consecutive shutouts and 29 consecutive conference wins. Across the four teams, the Hornets produced 24 all-conference honorees, two MIAA Most Valuable Players, 13 NCAA regional all-stars and two All-Americans.
Citation of Merit Awards
On Saturday, October 24, the College’s Emeriti Club will honor two alumni with its annual Citation of Merit Awards.
Donna (Reed) Lambert ’64 (posthumously) devoted her life to education, the arts and service to K, where she worked in the Registrar’s Office. She also led organizations including the Women’s Council, Emeriti Club and Art League. An educator in the Vicksburg and Kalamazoo public schools and at Western Michigan University, she enriched the community through the Current Events Club, Hospice, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts and the New Vic Theatre. Her legacy continues through the Donna Lambert Lecture Series at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts.
Donna Coleman Odom ’67 credits K with broadening her perspective and preparing her to meet challenges across a distinguished career in education, higher education administration and museum work. Odom founded and led the Southwest Michigan Black Heritage Society, later known as SHARE, creating racial-healing programs, community conversations and oral-history projects in partnership with K and other regional organizations. Her community leadership has earned honors including the YWCA Women of Achievement Award, the Westminster Presbyterian Peace Award and recognition as a 2021 AARP Purpose Prize Fellow.
