SIUE Honors Excellence at Alumni and Athletics Hall of Fame Celebration
The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) Alumni Association and Athletics joined forces for an extraordinary evening of recognition and celebration for the 2025 Hall of Fame induction on Friday, Jan. 10. The event, held as part of the 2025 Alumni Weekend, highlighted the remarkable achievements of distinguished alumni and outstanding athletes, bringing together the SIUE community in a spirit of pride and camaraderie.
The 2025 Hall of Fame Ceremony was segmented after dinner with two halves of presentations.
Joe Pott, director of athletics communication and broadcasting, served as the evening’s master of ceremonies, welcoming attendees to a night that showcased the profound impact of SIUE’s alumni and athletics programs. Recipients were given an award to keep and their names engraved on a plaque to be displayed on campus. Each inductee delivered heartfelt remarks, reflecting on the role SIUE played in their success.
Maggie Krumwiede, ’05, ’09, President of the Alumni Association Board of Directors, began with the Alumni Association inductee introduction, which included Brian Henry, Charles “Charlie” Myer, Dr. Christopher Larsen, Karen Morris Watkins (posthumous), Jonathan Fowler, and Dr. Jacquelyn Clement.
“This year’s Hall of Fame event was nothing short of spectacular!” said Krumwiede. “As the first year combining the event with the Athletics Hall of Fame induction, I was in awe of the amazing accomplishments shared by those who call SIUE their alma mater. The Office of Alumni & Donor Relations and SIUE Athletics put on a fantastic program.”
Brian J. Henry, BS Mass Communications ’95, a senior vice president at CVS Health, lauded SIUE for equipping him with practical skills and teamwork experiences that shaped his career. Henry was particularly fond of a memory with his fellow classmates keeping a computer lab door open.
“[We] spent an entire weekend passing one thing to another to another, keeping the door open, literally and figuratively, so people could finish their projects,” said Henry. “And as we talk about it even still today, going forward together… that was very forward together. So you learned a lot to rely on people, depend on people, but also to get things done together and maybe have a trust. We certainly trust each other, and that made a big difference.”
Charles O. Myer, BS Business Administration ’90, felt that he grew up on campus and credited SIUE for fostering his lifelong commitment to service, which fostered a career in serving the YMCA. Some of his programming from 33 years ago at the Edwardsville YMCA is still being utilized. Comparing the two as institutions of service, he noted that they both filled needs on a national and local level.
“[The YMCA] raised tens of millions of dollars and built some amazing facilities across the nation through the things that we've done, but I would like to think SIUE is no different,” said Myer. I think the impact we make is on the people. The beauty of my organization, just like SIUE, is we've fulfilled the needs of those individual communities.”
Christopher Larsen, DMD ’88, praised the School of Dental Medicine’s exceptional faculty and resources, which prepared him for a rewarding career in dentistry.
“This school is probably one of the best dental schools in the country,” exclaimed Larsen. “Dentistry is one of the best jobs in the world. It's a job where you can be comfortable. It's a job you can give back to society. All these things you can do to dedicate your time and give back. Serving on the ISDS board and all the committees is also another way to do that as well. It’s a very rewarding profession, and it all happened because of SIU.”
Karen Morris Watkins, BS Elementary Education ’66, was remembered as a trailblazing educator and dedicated community leader. Her widow, Garey Watkins, shared her inspiring legacy, leaving few dry eyes in the Meridian Ballroom.
“She was a teacher's teacher,” said Garey Watkins. Everywhere she went, she made the principal look good. I had never known a teacher, an educator, that would fly on private jets to different school districts throughout the Midwest to teach the teachers. She helped me to get through medical school. She helped her [Lynette Watkins] to get through medical school. And if you fly airplanes, or if you've flown, her son is sitting out there at Lambert airport. All the radar systems are controlled by him. Think about that. Karen's a legacy. When you're up there, high in the sky, you can't see nothing but clouds. Her son is taking care of you.”
Daughter Lynette Watkins added, “My mother epitomized excellence. She was a lifelong learner, and she really instilled that in all of us.”
Edwardsville native Jonathan Fowler, BS Electrical Engineering ’10, president of J.F. Electric, emphasized the value of SIUE’s School of Engineering in his career and encouraged ongoing support for the University.
“We're a construction business, and we do engineering,” explained Fowler. “We have quite a few spectacular employees that have graduated from this school. So to continue to have a successful business in this area, to have a school feeding us people that are going to do amazing work…You're not just a number here. You're not just a person. It's just a great place.”
Jacquelyn Clement, MSN Nursing ’80, celebrated more than five decades of advancing nursing education and expressed her passion for mentoring future nurses.
“When I came to SIUE, I had already practiced for about 10 or 12 years in critical care nursing in different university med centers across the country, and I came for my master's degree,” recalled Clement. “I was the only student in my small group of students who did not have a background in mental health and community mental health and psychiatric nursing. I was a critical care nurse focused on the body. I left that program with a totally different view of what I needed to do as a nurse to start making sure that I included the most important thing in nursing in everything I did— that was to bring caring into the environment. I learned to never underestimate the importance of that. It changed me. It changed the way I practiced nursing, changed the way I dealt with people, and it changed the way I taught.”
Andrew Gavin, SIUE Director of Athletics, welcomed the audience to the athletics portion of the program. He highlighted recent successes, including national rankings for student-athlete graduation rates and impressive accomplishments by SIUE’s soccer programs. The 2025 Athletics Hall of Fame inductees are Darin Hendrickson, Mia Smith, Steve Stearns, Andrea (Voss) Toennies, and the 2001 men’s soccer team.
The first honoree, Darin Hendrickson, head baseball coach at Saint Louis University, celebrated his achievements on the baseball field while maintaining a lasting connection to SIUE. His total of 10 wins in 1991 is tied for third most in a single season at SIUE and helped lead the Cougars to a school record 43 wins and a trip to the World Series. He roots for the Cougars every day but twice, when the Cougars meet with the St. Louis Billikens.
“I've stayed very close to the University, my coaches, former players, teammates, everybody— we all go through this together, said Hendrickson. “We're all a unit, you know. I'm a team guy, first and foremost.”
Mia Smith is in her 27th season as the head women's basketball coach at second-ranked Illinois Wesleyan. She played four seasons of basketball and softball at SIUE. Her 55 stolen bases are tied for 11th most in program history, and her 103 runs scored ranked 19th all time. She missed a team practice before a conference game to attend the ceremony, recognizing the magnitude of the Hall of Fame induction at SIUE.
“When I graduated back in 1986 I began teaching immediately, and I felt very prepared. I felt very ready for what I needed to do. As I still continue to teach teachers, I certainly felt prepared and very honored that I was able to attend at SIUE.”
Steve Stearns expressed gratitude for his wrestling career and echoed Smith’s sentiments on feeling academically prepared, which paved the way for a 35-year career in education and coaching.
“The instructors got me ready and well prepared,” said Stearns. “I went into my passion in life, which was education and coaching, in the south suburbs of Chicago. I love it. I wouldn't change anything. The number of wrestlers that I wrestled with here are also high school coaches that I got to see at the state tournament and everything else throughout my career.”
Andrea (Voss) Toennies, played four seasons of volleyball at SIUE. Voss holds the single match record for hitting percentage at .917 when she recorded 11 kills on 12 attempts with no errors. She was an AVCA All-America Honorable mention in 2003 and a two-time All-Region performer.
“We grew together so much that spring season that we're there for each other through everything these days, just keeping up with what's going on…running up Whiteside Hill will bond no other team like that! Everybody that is in the Hall of Fame or a former athlete can really understand how much the Athletics Department has grown. The additions to the gym, the weight room, the nutrition that these athletes are getting. All these advances need support.”
The 2001 men’s soccer team took up most of the stage space, but showed how strong a bond a team can form and continue to grow. The team reminisced about their national semifinal run, emphasizing the brotherhood formed during their historic season.
“You can't be a great team without great leadership,” said midfielder Justin McMillian, on behalf of the team. “We're a group of brothers, and back then, we were each other brothers on and off the field. You could see that look in the eyes if you were down, if you were injured. You could look around and you could see it. And what's been really great tonight is to walk around and you can see somebody you haven't seen for 10 or 15 years, and you just look at him and smile just like you're doing right now, nodding your head, and it's a great feeling.”
The 2025 Hall of Fame ceremony expressed a captivating excellence amongst pairs: shared dinners and grateful speeches, local luminaries and national leaders, athletic mentors and academic pioneers. For Gavin, the combined event accentuated the importance of collaboration and community in achieving success.
“SIUE Athletics was thrilled to partner with the Office of Advancement and the Alumni Association to host a successful and exciting Alumni Weekend,” said Gavin. “Friday evening’s Hall of Fame ceremony was especially inspiring. The accomplishments of our inductees demonstrate the strength of our institution and the collective power of our alumni.”
Learn more about the Alumni Association’s 2025 Hall of Fame inductees and the SIUE Athletics 2025 inductees.
Photos by Howard Ash