April 29, 2015 –
Arlene (Shipshee) Wahwasuck has been selected the 2015 Haskell Outstanding Alumni of the Year and will be honored during Haskell’s Commencement on May 8. Wahwasuck will also be recognized the evening before at a reception at Tecumseh Hall at 6:30 p.m. for family and friends.
After graduating from Haskell in 1951, Wahwasuck completed an undergraduate degree in Nursing at Washburn and a master’s degree in Community Health at the University of Kansas. Professionally she remained in nursing and retired as a Captain in the U.S. Public Health Services Nurse officer program in 1999. Since that time, she has remained active in Indian health issues and concerns and was an active committee member in the development of the Potawatomi Indian Health Center on the PBPN Common Land. She resides on the Kickapoo reservation.
Haskell will hold their commencement ceremony on Friday May 8 from 10 a.m. to noon at Coffin Sports Complex on campus. This year’s keynote speaker will be Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior who will honor over 200 graduates this year. She is the highest-ranking administration official to ever speak at a Haskell commencement ceremony in its 130th year history.