Alumni Awards 2025 Recipients

Rena Priest ('05)

Award-Winning Author and Former Washington State Poet Laureate

Rena served as the 6th Washington State Poet Laureate from 2021-2023, and was the first Indigenous person to hold this post. She was named the 2022 Maxine Cushing Gray Distinguished Writing Fellow and is the recipient of a Washington State Book Award and an Allied Arts Foundation Professional Poets Award. Rena has also earned fellowships from the Academy of American Poets, Indigenous Nations Poets, Nia Tero, and the Vadon Foundation.

Her debut collection, Patriarchy Blues, won an American Book Award. Her latest book, Northwest Know-How: Beaches, blends poetry, retellings of legends, and descriptions of 29 beloved Pacific Northwest beaches.

She has also edited two anthologies, and her forthcoming collection of essays, Positively Uncivilized, will be published by Raven Chronicles Press as the winner of their 2024 Keepers of the Fire Award. Her poems appear in Yellow Medicine Review, Poetry Magazine, Poem-a-day at Poets.org, Verse Daily, and elsewhere. Priest holds a B.A. in English from Western and an MFA in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. She works as a freelance writer and speaker, and lives in Bellingham, Washington.

We honor Rena for her insightful, challenging, and moving works, which capture the spirit of the Pacific Northwest and showcase the complex dimensions of life, tradition, and culture.

Lucas G Senger ('00, '12)

Creative Strategist and Educator

Lucas Gutiérrez Senger is a multi-industry creative professional whose career spans music, film, education, and social justice. His is the co-founder of Cake Machine, a consultancy that supports creative organizations and entrepreneurs by developing strategies for financial stability without compromising artistic integrity.

As a performing artist, Lucas has shared the stage with The Roots, Black Eyed Peas, A Tribe Called Quest, Wu-Tang Clan, and other seminal hip-hop acts. His films have received top honors at the Tribeca International Film Festival, South by Southwest, and the Seattle International Film Festival, among others. His media projects have been featured on Vice, MTV, Fuse, and Sundance networks and highlighted in Complex, Rolling Stone, Spin, and Indiewire.

Lucas is deeply committed to equitable and sustainable leadership in creative industries. He plays a key role in Western’s Arts Enterprise and Cultural Innovation program and co-instructs WWU’s AACSB-accredited MBA consulting capstone. He serves as Co-Chair of WWU’s Social Justice and Equity Committee, Faculty Advisor to the Black & Brown Male Success Collective, and a member of WWU’s Structural Equity Team. As an Ashoka U Change Leader, he connects Western to a global network of change-making institutions.

We are grateful for Lucas’ dedicated leadership in the Western community and his commitment to social justice in creative industries.

Stephanie Evans (’08, '10)

Public School Teacher, Vancouver, Washington

Stephanie Evans is a public school teacher in Vancouver, Washington. Her leadership in LGBTQ+ advocacy and inclusive education has ensured that students have safe spaces to thrive both academically and personally.

Stephanie has taught French, English, and theater for over 13 years in the public school system. She is passionate about equity, inclusion, and creating classrooms where all students feel valued and empowered to embrace their full potential. She has led Gay-Straight Alliance programs, directed numerous theater productions, and coached Middle School Knowledge Bowl teams for more than a decade. Her critical advocacy work in the classroom for LGBTQ+ students has had far-reaching impact in her school community.

We are thrilled to honor Stephanie for her outstanding work in the field of education and her dedication to empowering students through vital advocacy and inclusion work.

Kendyl Barney ('15)

Social Science Specialist, USDA

Kendyl Barney is a Program Specialist at the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. She has received multiple accolades for her work, including the USDA’s highest honor, the Secretary’s Honor Award (2024), as well as the USDA Research, Education, and Economics Under Secretary’s Award (2024) and the USDA NIFA Team Award (2023).

Kendyl supports the management of competitive grant programs focused on K-12 education, higher education, and workforce development in food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences. Her programs fund scholarships, experiential learning, and outreach initiatives to train the next generation of agriculture scientists and professionals.

Before joining the USDA, she pursued graduate education at the University of Montana, where she advanced social science research. Her scholarship focused on grief communication, inspired by her personal experiences and volunteer service with Seattle Children’s Journey Program. Her research explored how letter writing fosters connection with deceased loved ones, how storytelling aids sense-making after loss, and how grief impacts identity and self-concept. Kendyl received the Outstanding Service Award from the University of Montana Department of Communication Studies in 2020 as well as Top Paper awards from the Western States Communication Association (2020) and Northwest Communication Association (2019).

We are pleased to honor Kendyl for her extraordinary dedication to service in her community and our country.