MWU Glendale Campus Celebrates its Tenth Anniversary

This Saturday evening, October 21, more than 550 guests gathered on MWU's Glendale Campus to celebrate our 10th anniversary of bringing health care education to Arizona. The Bright Lights, Shining Stars Gala is our annual event to bring together community leaders, corporate partners, and alumni for an evening of dinner and dancing under the stars. This co-chairs of this year's event were The Honorable Elaine Scruggs, the Mayor of Glendale, and Mr. Steven Chanen, President & COO of Chanen Construction. Chanen was also the Diamond Sponsor of the event, and our Platinum Sponsors included APS, Arizona Republic, City of Glendale, Fry's Pharmacy, and TriWest Healthcare Alliance. Needless to say, the event drew an impressive crowd of corporate and health care leaders to recognize the success of our University in improving the health care environment for the state. We also invited all of our alumni back for this campus reunion, and about 35 alumni attended with their hospital or pharmacy table or individually.

In addition to celebrating the University, we also gave theannual COMET Award (Community Outreach: Motivating Excellence for Tomorrow) to Glendale Vice Mayor Tom Eggleston for his 47 years of service to the community. Shooting Star Awards were presented to Congressman Jim Kolbe, for helping to support funding for our creation of a residency program in Sierra Vista; and to Joan Brainard, Director of the YWCA Senior Meals Program, for serving free or low-cost meals to thousands of seniors in the West Valley.

We also recognized 9 students with Spirit of Service Scholarships. Three students from each college were selected to receive these awards, which were funded by proceeds from our annual golf outing and this Bright Lights event. The top scholarship winners from each college were asked to provide some remarks to the audience, and they all spoke about the community service activities they have been involved with as students.

At the conclusion of the event, Mayor Scruggs presented Dr. G (that's MWU's President & CEO, Kathleen H. Goeppinger, Ph.D., who is affectionately known by all as "Dr. G") with a beautiful bench designed by Joe Tyler to be displayed on campus. Mr. Chanen then presented Dr. G with a one-of-a-kind sculpture entitled Tabula Rosa, depicting a girl reading a book. Dr. G then invited the entire Administrative Team of the University to the stage to recognize our commitment to the campus. I have to say, it was a very proud moment for all of us to reflect on what we have accomplished in 10 years and to see how well-respected the University has become in the Phoenix community. We are the largest medical school, pharmacy school, and health sciences university in the state. It used to be that few people in the community knew about us, but over the past few years, we have become very well known throughout the state. This is in large because of our wonderful students who are so committed to the community and to our successful alumni who are making a difference in local hospitals, pharmacies, clinics, and private practices.

Toward the end of the evening, those of us who remained to listen and dance to the 10-piece swing band enjoyed a rendition of "God Bless the Children" sung by our own Kathy Dooley, MWU Director of Media Resources. It was a wonderful culmination of a very special evening. And this first 10 years is just the beginning...