The Societies of ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ City University will honor four distinguished women of ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ City during the 30th annual Awards of Excellence luncheon April 26 at the ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ City Golf and Country Club. The Societies of ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ City University focuses on recognizing women for outstanding volunteer service in their communities and in the state of ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½.
The 2018 honorees are Cathy Keating, Susan Edwards, Edie Roodman and Jean McLaughlin. Jenee Naifeh Lister and Aimee Robb Harlow are the co-chairs of the event.
βI am honored to co-chair the 30th annual Awards of Excellence luncheon that celebrates the accomplishments of our four honorees and showcases ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½βs talented music, vocal and dance students,β said Lister.
The Societies is the only organization in ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ to honor women for their volunteer careers. In the past 30 years, more than 115 women have been honored through this organization.
Through the yearly presentation of the Kirkpatrick-Petree Music and Performing Arts Society Award, the Dulaney-Browne Library Award, the Norick-Hulsey Gallery Society Award and ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ City University Distinguished Philanthropist Award, the recipients exemplify what servant leadership means within the community and state, Lister said.
Cathy Keating, who co-founded the Annie Oakley Society, a part of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum formed to celebrate the past and present leadership roles that women play in Western heritage, is being honored with the Kirkpatrick-Petree Music and Performing Arts Society award. As first lady, Keating created several events that have had a lasting tradition β Friends of the Mansion to sustain long-term preservation and restoration of the state governorβs mansion; Septemberfest, a free festival at the mansion where families celebrate the stateβs history and diverse culture; and the Boots, Bandanas and Barbecue annual fundraiser.
The Dulaney-Browne Library Service Award will be presented to Susan Edwards, who has been involved with community improvement initiatives since moving to ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ City in the 1970s. She credits the Junior League with teaching her how to serve her community. She served on the leagueβs board of directors and executive board. She was honored by the Junior League with the Mary Baker Rumsey Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013β14. She has had a long affiliation with the Arts Council of ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ City and co-chaired the Festival of the Arts in 2002.
Edie Roodman, who is being honored with the Norick-Hulsey Gallery Society Award, retired in 2017 as CEO and executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater OKC after 25 years and currently serves as executive director of the ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ Israel Exchange (OKIE). Even while working full time, Roodman spent countless hours volunteering with more than 20 organizations including OKC Beautiful, Habitat for Humanity, Westminster School and Ronald McDonald House, among others. She still serves on several of these organizationsβ boards.
The Distinguished Philanthropist Award will be presented to Jean McLaughlin, who has been chairwoman of the McLaughlin Family Foundation since 2004. The organization helps disadvantaged children and their families in central ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ in a variety of ways. Among its causes is to reduce teen pregnancy, improve outcomes for foster children, heal children and adults who are victims of abuse and building safe places for children to play.
For more information on attending or becoming a sponsor of the Awards of Excellence Luncheon or about ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ City University Societies, contact Judy Reyes-Henderson, assistant vice president of development for ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½ City University, at 405-208-5435, or visit okcu.edu/awardsofexcellence.
