Hillsdale College recognized alumni Kerry Cummings ’77, Michael Francisco ’04, Elizabeth Spalding ’88, and Kat Timpf ’10 for their outstanding personal and professional achievements in the 2024 Alumni Awards.
The college officially presented the awards June 30 at the 73rd Annual Alumni Awards Banquet as, a part of the White & Blue Reunion Weekend in Hillsdale.
“It was such an honor to be recognized by Hillsdale College and alongside such accomplished alumni,” Kerry Donovan Cummings said in an email to The Collegian.
Cummings received the Tower Award for outstanding service to the college. The president of her senior class at Hillsdale, Cummings now resides in the Chicago suburbs. She assumed leadership of the Hillsdale College Alumni Association in January 2020, just months before Hillsdale had to adapt to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“My hope is that our service to the college encourages others to find ways to give back to this special place,” Cummings said.
Michael Francisco ’04 received a Distinguished Alumnus award for his outstanding professional achievement in law. An attorney for First and Fourteenth firm in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Francisco helped represent Lorie Smith of 303 Creative before the U.S. Supreme Court in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis. He was also involved in the Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission case.
“I’ve been involved in mooting and writing amicus briefs in most of the religious liberty cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court,” Francisco said in a video produced by Hillsdale College.
He described his mission as one of protecting Christians and the church from persecution in an increasingly secular world.
“Frankly, it goes to the parts of life and culture that I think are most important to what it means to be an American,” Francisco said. “To be able to worship and express yourself freely, to be able to criticize the government or others are two of the things that make this country great.”
Elizabeth Edwards Spalding, Ph.D., ’88 received the Elizabeth Smith Friedman Award for Freedom: the second time the award has ever been given.
A self-described “third generation anti-communist,” Spalding is the chairman of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and the founding director of the Victims of Communism Museum.
“Communism is based on lies,” Spalding said in a video produced by Hillsdale College. “Our country is based on ideas, and we are open to everyone. Communism is the opposite of that.”
Elizabeth Spalding’s husband, Matthew Spalding, the vice president of Washington operations for Hillsdale, commended his wife’s accomplishments.
“My better half is a great teacher, an excellent scholar, a dogged enemy of all things totalitarian, and is especially deserving of an award named for Elizabeth Smith Friedman,” Matthew Spalding said in an email to The Collegian.
Kat Timpf ’10 received a Distinguished Alumna award for her outstanding professional achievement in journalism. The Fox News analyst, comedian, and author released a book in 2023 about the power of humor.
“Laughing and making people laugh is my favorite thing about being alive,” Timpf said in a video produced by Hillsdale College.
Executive Director of Alumni Relations Colleen McGinness guides the selection process for the Alumni Awards.
“We are always looking for candidates,” McGinness said. “Always establishing relationships and getting to know people.”
McGinness said she keeps a curated list of potential awardees. A committee within the Alumni Association selects three or four candidates every year to propose to the President’s Office. Dr. Arnn makes the final selection.
“We are really looking for alums who are representing the College in a variety of ways,” McGinness said.
McGinness also described the challenge of honoring those many alumni of the college who choose to stay home to raise their children.
“We have a lot of outstanding alumni, and not everyone finds themselves in fields, either, where they’re able to get all kinds of achievement,” she said. “I try to be very conscious of that.”
According to McGinness, this is one reason the college recently established the Elizabeth Smith Friedman Award for Freedom and the Tower Award for Service to the College.
“Those are ways we can honor people who are serving their community in different ways, serving the college in different ways,” McGinness said. “Maybe they’re not CEOs of a company, but they’re doing just as important work.”