This award celebrates those who have brought honor to Wittenberg by their exceptional and continual dedication to Wittenberg's ideals. Any Alumnus/a shall be eligible for the citation on the basis of exceptional professional accomplishments and service to humanity ahead of personal recognition or gain.
With dreams of a future in Chicago, Wally Martinson came to Wittenberg to study business and finance. Along the way, however, he discovered a deeper passion - a passion to serve.
That passion and his commitment to service were recently recognized during Homecoming 2006, when the university presented him with an Alumni Citation Award. Given to those who have brought honor to Wittenberg by their exceptional accomplishments in which service to humanity is placed ahead of personal gain or recognition, the award provided Martinson with an opportunity to reflect on his life's journey.
"It was an honor to receive this award," said Martinson, explaining that his life plan began to change as he became more involved in the Wittenberg Christian Fellowship his junior year.
"I was at a prayer meeting, and I heard a voice telling me that I would live in Springfield," Martinson said. He admitted it sounds unbelievable, but it changed the course of his life.
Although he continued to groom himself for a secular life, including a Washington Semester in 1980, he remained an active member of Christian fellowship.
"In 1982, Pete Baur '80, James Robertson '80 and I formalized what was basically a Christian fraternity," Martinson said, referring to the Salt House on Fountain Avenue.
Martinson's role as a faith-based adviser had begun, and over time his list of contacts grew. Eventually these men asked what they could do together that they couldn't do individually, and in 1993, they founded the Nehemiah Foundation. Martinson was named executive director, a position he still holds today.
"Our role is to advise, support and encourage as we engage the community with faith-based perspectives," Martinson said. "We serve 6,500 families, and our community partners include the Juvenile Court, the Department of Job and Family Services, Springfield Police Department, Springfield City Schools, 80 businesses and 50 churches."
Married to Anne Duffin Martinson '85, Martinson said his life is firmly entrenched in Springfield. His passion to serve the community remains strong, as does his faith. It goes without saying that he will continue his work one prayer at a time.
A calling to improve, strengthen and give voice to those who have been marginalized or silenced has directed the career path of licensed clinical social worker Richard Chollar. His dedication to that calling was recognized with an Alumni Citation Award during Homecoming 2006.
Assistant director for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (LGBTQ) students in the Office of Diversity Programs and Services at George Mason University (GMU) in Fairfax, Va., Chollar co-created the Campus Safe Zone program at GMU. The program has been in existence five years, and Chollar served as its first coordinator, a position he still holds today.
"We have trained 350 faculty, staff and students as positive allies," Chollar said, explaining that positive allies display the symbol of the "Safe Zone" to advise that they will be understanding, supportive and trustworthy if a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender youth needs help, advice or just someone with whom they can talk.
"I'm most proud of three things we've accomplished: increasing the skill levels of our positive allies, the increase in our campus resources and of the level of culture shift on campus in that it has become more welcoming to the LGBTQ community," Chollar said.
Chollar's work also involves families experiencing violence, people with addiction, those affected by HIV and all groups of diverse backgrounds. He added that he has always been connected with all systems of oppression as well as liberation, both the negative and the positive forces. His work with HIV prevention remains one of those programs closest to his heart.
As for Wittenberg, Chollar noted positive changes on campus including the university's active social awareness organization, the Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA), and the Safe Zone Project. Chollar was also pleased to note that events sponsored by the GSA were included on the Homecoming 2006 program.
"To be welcomed back and appreciated for who I am, it was healing - one of the finest moments of my life."
When Jo Hinkel graduated from Wittenberg, she became the first in her family to earn a four-year college degree. In 1986, she added an M.A. in teaching museum education from George Washington University, which resulted in a 20-year career with the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian Institution. Following two years of retirement, Hinkel began as a contract worker for the museum. Her desire to serve, however, has never retired.
From co-authoring A Children's Guide to the Smithsonian to ensure that all young visitors leave with an understanding and appreciation for what they learned to being a tutor with Experience Corps Literacy in the D.C. public schools to reading to the blind in New York City, Hinkel has taken Wittenberg's call to serve to heart.
No wonder she caught the attention of Wittenberg's Office of Alumni Relations, which recently bestowed on her an Alumni Citation Award, given in recognition of those who have brought honor to Wittenberg by their exceptional accomplishments in which service to humanity is placed ahead of personal gain or recognition. Hinkel received the award during Homecoming this fall.
Looking back on her journey, Hinkel said one of her most satisfying accomplishments was the expansion of the museum’s internship program.
"I love working with youth," she said. "I believe internships are so important for trying out a profession. The program had 50 interns a year at its peak, and each received a stipend for living expense. Only one intern, Mary Jane Taylor '88, came from Wittenberg in the 12 years I was education office intern coordinator."
Hinkel also served as visitor advocate during development of the museum's first-ever hands-on science gallery, "How Things Fly," 10 years ago.
The gallery houses 70 exhibits and welcomed 4,000 visitors the first year, a number that has grown steadily every year.
Yet, even now, Hinkel still credits Wittenberg for the directions her life has taken.
"Wittenberg changed my life," she says. "The faculty was nurturing and provided strength in its mentoring. I was flabbergasted at the honor given to me."