Alumni Stories
A Hastings College graduate’s journey with AGE Africa
As a diplomat and Army officer, I served in 12 countries and witnessed firsthand how education can change the trajectory of an adolescent girl’s life — and, by extension, entire communities. This…
Boeve’s retirement not his final inning at HC
Hall of Famer may be scaling back, but he’s still in the lineup on and off campus. Jim Boeve jokes that he’s better at the things he volunteers for than what he’s…
Reaching across the divide: Q&A with Rev. Greg Allen-Pickett
Rev. Greg Allen-Pickett is senior pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Hastings and a member of Hastings College’s Board of Trustees and ASPIRE Faith Advisory Council. In addition to pastoral leadership experience,…
Investing in Civic Life: The Doerr Center at Hastings College
When Karen (Gilmore) ’75 and Roger Doerr committed $600,000 over five years to establish the Doerr Center for Civic Engagement at Hastings College, they weren’t simply writing a check. They were planting…
From evergreens to espresso: Kindig ’16 embraces entrepreneurship
On a chilly Friday in December, kids scamper among the evergreens at Pine Patch Tree Farm in Hastings while owner Joe Kindig ’16 prepares a seven-foot spruce for one delighted family. With…
Madera ’19 bridges cultures through music
By weaving his Latin American heritage into the choral music he creates, Hugo Madera ’19 – conductor, composer and educator – builds a harmonious bridge between two cultures: his roots in Jalisco,…
What happened on the way to the manger? Koepp fills gap in Nativity story
In the traditional Nativity story, angels appear to the shepherds, telling them to go pay homage to the newborn King. The next thing we see is the shepherds at the manger, but…
Huxtables leave a legacy of learning and giving
“Fifty years goes by, bringing joys and heartaches. Life is that way. My 50 years has been full of what happens to everyone, but there have been moments very precious to me.…
Christenson bringing history, stories of the Plains to life
Kylie (Luth) Christenson ’19 leads a visitor up the elegant curving staircase of the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer in Grand Island, Nebraska. On the second level, she gestures toward a…
Librarian’s family honors her Hastings College legacy
Alice (Coates) Harris was a respected librarian, educator and volunteer in the city of South Pasadena, California. To those closest to her, she was much more than that. She was a beloved…
Uhrmacher finds his place in teacher education at Hastings College
After high school, Cale Uhrmacher got his start at Central Community College, but a call from chair the Hastings College Teacher Education Department steered him on a different path. Uhrmacher found a…
Chemistry prof leaves scholarship bequest
During his 37 years as an esteemed chemistry professor at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, the late Dr. Marshall Robert “Bob” Stoner ’60 never forgot his roots as a fledgling…
Fong ’05 builds global support for Nebraska’s majestic sandhill cranes
Each March, thousands of people flock to the Central Platte River Valley to see the annual migration of the Sandhill Cranes, long-legged, crimson-capped creatures that fill the sky with their trumpeting calls,…
Video: Bierman-Macke uses what she learned at Hastings College to excel in medical school
Kaitlin Bierman-Macke went into Hastings College knowing she wanted to go to medical school — and found individualized mentorship and built a community of friends along the way. Now, the biology grad…
Kondrich brings articles to life for the Washington Post
Michelle Kondrich’s illustrations are captivating. With a stroke of her digital brush, the Hastings College graduate and current illustrator and art director for the Washington Post Op-Ed division, breathes life into complex…
Whetstone ’18 helps communities understand the past
Dr. Brian Whetstone ’18 knows that history lives well beyond textbooks and traditional classrooms. It exists in the museums we visit, the trails we hike, the documentaries we watch, the events we…