Wilkinson Alumni Center at PSU to celebrate its 50th anniversary

The Wilkinson Alumni Center at Pittsburg State University is having a birthday.

The 50th anniversary of the Center at Ford and Homer Streets in Pittsburg will be observed at 1 p.m. on April 25th

The groundbreaking for the center was in October 1974. The Center was formally dedicated on May 22, 1976.

The Center is named for Cecil and Eva Wilkinson.

The couple’s story is inspiring: Cecil’s boyhood home was in Coal Valley near Weir, Kansas, and he attended College High School on the campus of Pittsburg State University. He worked in mining, eventually owning a mine himself.

He and Eva realized the power of higher education and established several academic and athletic scholarships at Pitt State, then donated the funding to build the center.

In the decades since, it has played an important role in the lives of generations of alumni.

The university’s first director of Alumni & Constituent Relations, Ken Bateman, will be among the featured speakers at Friday’s
event.

Other speakers will include:

Kathleen Flannery, vice president for University Advancement and president/CEO of PSU Foundation, Inc.;

Gary Tredway, chair of the PSU Foundation;

Danielle Driskill, director for Alumni & Constituent Relations and;

Members of the Wilkinson Family

Also in attendance will be the Foundation Board, the Alumni Board, past directors and employees, and members of the campus.

In addition to remarks, a ribbon cutting for new signage will be held in front of the center.