College celebrates Friends of UCC

By Roy Warner · The Mainstream
Published October 20, 2009

Some of the most distinguished Friends of UCC were present at last Tuesday evening’s event, “Honoring the Spirit of Umpqua”

The gathering, which is held only once every five years, was for the induction of the most recent recipients into UCC’s “Spirit of Umpqua” Hall of Fame.

Of the hundreds of people who have had a hand in making UCC what it is today, only 18 of them have been honored in this way since the college was established in 1964. This small group is officially recognized for their commitment to education through their community college by exceptional service, either financially or in-kind service for an extended period of time, usually over ten years. The recipients are retired or near retirement.

The first of the three recipients included Del Blanchard who represented southern Douglas County on UCC’s Board of Trustees from July 1977 through to the most recent installation of the new board members near the beginning of this last summer. Blanchard has also offered support to UCC students through scholarships with a donation to the UCC Foundation.

Jacky Hagen was also inducted into the “Spirit of Umpqua” Hall of Fame. Hagen is responsible for securing the funding for Upward Bound, Educational Talent Search and Student Support Services, which have served thousands of students from middle school to high school and finally college. Many of these students otherwise would not have had the resources to earn a college education. Hagen also facilitated the student body’s effort to place benches all over campus which many people have enjoyed over the years.

The final inductee of the evening was Mildred Whipple, who follows her husband into the Hall of Fame. Although Mildred is no longer with us, her contributions live on. Mildred made many contributions to the College’s Fine Arts Department, numerous scholarships and the UCC Foundation totaling millions of dollars over almost 30 years. Accepting the award for Mildred was her daughter, Carol Whipple.

The evening’s inductees were presented with a plaque that included their pictures, names, job titles and number of years of service at UCC. This plaque will be placed alongside of the 15 previous inductees on the “Spirit of Umpqua” Hall of Fame Honorees. The “Spirit of Umpqua” Hall of Fame is located in the lobby of the Jacoby Auditorium.