When Jim Penders applied to replace the retiring Baylock in 2003, Penders told then-athletic director Jeff Hathaway that his goal was not to be a college baseball coach. He said it was to be the UConn baseball coach.And in the years since, Penders has not simply been a great coach at UConn. He has been a great UConn coach. There is a difference.

When Alexandra Eckhardt ’11 (CLAS, ED) was in elementary school her dad taught her to play Earth, Wind & Fire tunes on a four-string, junior-sized electric bass. He also taught her the acoustic bass because she loved low-noted instruments — but even the mini version was a stretch.

The Rome Commons Ballroom at UConn’s Storrs campus was filled on Saturday evening with Neag School of Education Alumni Board members; Neag School faculty, staff, and administrators; friends of the University; and guests honoring seven distinguished Neag School alumni at the School’s annual Alumni Awards Celebration.

Fellow faculty members, students, alumni, family, and friends last month joined Joseph N. Cooper, assistant professor of sport management in the Neag School, to celebrate his newly released book, From Exploitation Back to Empowerment: Black Male Holistic (Under)Development Through Sport and (Mis)Education (Peter Lang, 2019), inspired by his research on the intersection between sport, education, race, and culture and the impact of sport involvement on the holistic development of Black male athletes.

When Alexandra Eckhardt ’11 (ED, SFA) was in elementary school her dad taught her to play Earth, Wind & Fire tunes on a four-string, junior-sized electric bass. He also taught her the acoustic bass because she loved low-noted instruments — but even the mini version was a stretch.

Congratulations to our Neag School alumni, faculty, staff, and students on their continued accomplishments inside and outside the classroom. If you have an accolade to share, we want to hear from you! Please send any news items and story ideas to neag-communications@uconn.edu.

Alan Addley is in his 11th year as the superintendent of Granby (Conn.) Public Schools. A native of Northern Ireland, Addley started his career as a professional soccer player and mathematics teacher. He has 34 years of administrative and teaching experience in private and public schools in the United States and Ireland. Addley completed a Connecticut Superintendent Certificate through the Executive Leadership Program in 2007 and earned his Ed.D. in 2014, both at the Neag School.

Sandi Hastings ’89 MA, ’94 Ph.D. began to contemplate the kind of relationship she wanted to have with her graduate school alma mater after her son was involved in a serious car accident.

Ashley Robinson, a third-year doctoral student studying learning, leadership, and education policy in the Neag School, and Tashua Sotil ’17 (CAHNR), ’18 MA, a sixth-year graduate student in its educational psychology program, have been named the recipients of the Neag School of Education Alumni Board Scholarship for 2019.

“It’s great to be back. This is and will always be home for me,” Elliott says. “I came here to Storrs when I was 18 years old, wet behind the ears as a freshman coming from the inner city of Washington, D.C. I owe a lot to this place.”