The 2022 Ambassador Award, the Young Alumni Award, and the Alumni Recognition Award, will be presented Friday, Oct. 14, at the Southwestern College Homecoming dinner in the Roy L. Smith dining hall.  The honorees are Steve and Sally Cauble, Tabatha Rosproy, and Sandee McDade. Robbie Banks from the Southwestern College Class of 1972 will serve as the master of ceremonies for the dinner with brief remarks from President Liz Frombgen. 

Sandee McDade

The SC Ambassador Award will be presented to Winfield resident Sandee McDade. This award recognizes non-graduates of the college who have captured the Builder spirit and have served as ambassadors of goodwill for the college and the community.  

McDade, a 1973 graduate of Winfield High School, attended SC from 1973-75 before going to work at the Winfield State Hospital where she, along with four others, were in charge of the Serendipity School.  Since it was brand new at the time, they wrote the program for the school.  She then worked at William Newton Hospital as a physical therapy assistant, a job she held for 13 years, before moving on to Via Christi.  She was working at Presbyterian Manor in Arkansas City before a cancer diagnosis halted her working. McDade overcame the disease and is still getting checkups but is currently cancer free.

She has found a new passion; meeting Southwestern College students and their families, in-particular, SC baseball players.  As she describes it, a couple of players actually adopted her and so she supports them with her presence and supportive messages.  She says at 67 years old, being around campus and supporting SC students keeps her young and active.

Tabatha Rosproy

Tabatha Rosproy will receive the Young Alumni Award.  This honor is presented to a recent graduate (or graduates) who have made an outstanding commitment to the college through ambassadorship and support, including attendance at college functions and recruitment of new students.

Rosproy is a 2009 SC graduate.  She majored in early childhood education at Southwestern and participated in numerous groups including the 9 Lives Improv Comedy Troupe, theatre, Discipleship Team, and Ed Builders.  She was in the Freshman Class Council, Student Government president, orientation leader for Builder Camp, summer Builder Bound camps, and was named a Masterbuilder.

Rosproy was the 2020 National Teacher of the Year and the first preschool teacher to ever be awarded the national honor, in the history of the United States. She is well-known for helping to create a unique preschool program that is housed at Cumbernauld Village in Winfield where she came to know many community residents, who are SC alumni and serve as volunteer “grandmas” and “grandpas” in the classroom.  Rosproy taught at Cumbernauld for three years before departing for a new opportunity in Kansas City, Kansas.  

Now a 13-year veteran teacher, Rosproy has transitioned into a new role as the early childhood project coordinator for Kansas Parent Information Resource Center where she provides training around the state to school districts and organizations on best practices in early childhood education and family engagement. Rosproy is also a certified instructor for Conscious Discipline and spends her extra time speaking, training, and collaborating with educators all over the country.

She has been married to her husband, Tim, also a Southwestern graduate, for eight years. They now reside in Olathe with their four cats, Mr. Darcy, Beak, Beezus, and Frankenstein.

Steve and Sally Cauble

Steve and Sally Cauble, 1972 graduates, will receive the Outstanding Alumni Award in honor of their contributions to the college and community.

Steve attended Southwestern after graduating high school at Wichita East.  While at SC, he played tennis and was undefeated at #6 singles and claimed a KCAC league championship. He served as a student representative on the Southwestern College Board of Trustees, the first-ever student to do so.

Two weeks following his graduation from SC he was drafted and joined the Air National Guard for six years as a medic.  He served in Wichita and Memphis, Tenn. He then attended optometry school at Southern School of Optometry.  He graduated, joined, and bought a practice in Liberal in 1974.

Now retired, Steve is still busy as a Southwestern College Board of Trustees member, East Heights Methodist Church trustee, Downtown Lions Club Past President, Lion Sight Foundation board member, and a Professional Men’s Club Past President.  He has served on mission trips to Bolivia, Africa, Costa Rica, and nine times to Panama with Volunteer Optometric Service to Humanity.

Sally Cauble graduated from SC in 1972 with a bachelor of arts degree in elementary education.  While at SC, she was a member of the first dance team at the college, was voted in as secretary of the senior class, and worked on campus in the library. 

Sally taught in Fredonia, Memphis, Tenn., and in Liberal.  While in Liberal, she was the education coordinator at Liberal United Methodist Church.  She was on the school board for USD 480 and was chairman of the board.  She also served on the library board, Southwestern College Board of Trustees, the United Way Board, was elected to represent District 5 on the State Board of Education, and the Kansas Optometric Auxiliary.   She has earned many awards for her work including awards from the American Optometric Auxiliary, Kansas Optometric Association, and is a member of the Southwestern College Education Hall of Fame.

Steve and Sally were married in 1973 and have two children, Stephanie, and her husband Kevin Makalous, and Stewart and his wife, Nichele.  They also are the proud grandparents of the three granddaughters; Ashley, Allyson, and Amanda Makalous. 

Steve and Sally have been co-chairs of a capital campaign to raise money for Southwestern College and have been named the Southwest Daily Times Citizens of the Year and the Liberal Chamber of Commerce Citizens of the Year.       

 “We look forward to celebrating and connecting with the many wonderful alumni who come back to campus for Homecoming, but we are particularly excited to lift up these four individuals, who represent the Builder Spirit and our college in all that they do for their communities and Southwestern,” said Frombgen.

The full 2022 Alumni Homecoming schedule may be found at www.sckans.edu/homecoming.