The Eagle award, given for outstanding service to the College of Eastern Utah, went Saturday night to Stanley V. Litizzette, a Helper attorney.
CEU President Michael A. Petersen said Litizzette was chairman of CEU's institutional council (now board of trustees) when Petersen became president. He said Litizzette gave him a lot of good advice and has made many other civic contributions during the past three decades. Petersen mentioned Litizzette's years of service at Price River Water Improvement District.Litizzette said, "Mike has done quite well in bringing the college along. It is the area's most valuable resource."
The award, along with others, was made during the Founder's Day banquet in the student activity center.
Dr. John Evan Jones, vice president for Health Sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University, was given an Outstanding Alumnus award. He said CEU, then Carbon College, was the only school he ever attended where you could call a teacher at home for help with a problem. He recalled a French class that had three students.
"I thought I was living in the fast lane," he said.
Earlier in the day John Jones broke ground for a new residence hall to be named for his father, Dr. Aaron Jones.
Aaron Jones, second president of CEU, helped rally statewide support for CEU when it was threatened with closure in the '50s.
The new hall will eventually house 200 students, and the first of its three units is scheduled for completion in September of this year. An Aaron Jones residence hall built about 30 years ago will be torn down.
Other Outstanding Alumnus awards were given to Alan C. Bartlett, a genetics researcher for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and his wife, Vanice Rae Baker Bartlett, a history teacher at Mesa Community College in Mesa, Ariz. They met at Carbon College, now CEU.
Vanice Bartlett spoke of the camaraderie of former "Car-bon-ites" when they meet and paid tribute to dedicated teachers who provided a solid educational foundation, taught good values and were willing to teach subjects needed. Bess Jones, an English teacher, sometimes taught Latin and geography, she said.
Wesley Larsen, who taught several years at CEU and later was a teacher and administrator at Southern Utah University, received a Lifetime Achievement award. The award was given for the first time this year.
Three men were inducted into the CEU Athletic Hall of Fame.
Walter Borla played baseball and football for Carbon High School and CEU, worked as a part-time sportswriter for local and state newspapers and helped organize many local leagues and tournaments, including a national Western Boys Baseball tournament.
He said he never professed to be a great athlete but enjoyed associating with athletes, some of whom went on to distinguished careers. He enjoyed helping young people find a place in sports.
Curt Jenson, who coached basketball for CEU for 16 years and is now athletic director, recalled the roller-coaster existence of a coach. A high point of his career came in 1964-65 when CEU took third place in the National Junior College Athletic Association finals at Hutchinson, Kan.
He thanked his three sons, who played on his teams but earlier swept the basketball court during halftimes, and his three daughters who performed such tasks as gathering scorecards.
Also honored was the late Ronald Cunningham. A native of Washington, D.C., Cunningham starred on the CEU basketball team that took third in the national tournament.