2023 Alumni Awards

Alumni Association Award Recipients

The Methodist University Alumni Association has been honoring some of our top alumni for over 40 years. Nominations for the alumni awards are accepted from January 1 through March 31 each year and the awards are presented at Homecoming. This year’s recipients include the following:

Distinguished Alumni: Fredy Oxom ’11

Oxom is the first person from the Mayan Q’eqchi community/population in Guatemala to attend a university in the U.S. He won Methodist University’s annual Kathryn Davis Peace Project competition for his proposal to expand secondary education in a indigenous Guatemalan village. After Methodist University, Oxom graduated with a master’s degree in bilingual and intercultural education from San Carlos University, Guatemala and is now working towards a doctorate in education, also from San Carlos University. Fredy currently works as the advisor to the Viceminister of Bilingual and Intercultural Education in Guatemala where he works to improve education programming for more than 1.2 million children in the indigenous Mayan communities. Fredy previously worked for Inter-American Dialogue and UNICEF.

Distinguished Young Alumni: Daniel Renz ’14M

Renz is a graduate of Methodist University’s Master in Justice Administration program and currently serves as Chief of Counter-Insider Threat Operations and Office of Chief Financial Officer Security Manager for the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) at DISA headquarters in Maryland. Renz is a graduate of two Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) Advanced Courses and is an Insider Threat and National Security expert with over 15 years of federal civilian service positions with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. Office of Personnel Management. In 2020, Renz led DISA to achieving the highest National Insider Threat Task Force (NITTF) Insider Threat Program certification. Renz has also served in multiple volunteer capacities, including Volunteering Untapped in Baltimore, Md. and as a Maryland Court Appointed Special Advocate.

Outstanding Alumni Service: Jason Sparrow ’17

Sparrow is a dedicated cybersecurity engineer at MCNC (Telecommunications service provider in Durham County, N.C.) and concurrently serving as a Signal Communications Officer in the North Carolina National Guard. Since graduation, Sparrow has dedicated countless hours and resources in service to MU, to Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, and his church in Fayetteville. Sparrow has served on the Alumni Association Board of Directors since 2018 and as 2nd Vice Chair of the board since January 2021. He was heavily involved in the 2022 founding of the Black Alumni Chapter. Sparrow is an active member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., serving as a member of the Middle Eastern Province Planning Committee and as Chairman for the Kappa League Mentoring Program, which promotes youth development initiatives in the greater Fayetteville area. In addition, Sparrow serves as a Chairman Deacon at the Unity Church of Fayetteville.

Outstanding Faculty: Dr. Cameron Dodworth

A tenured professor of 19th Century British Literature since 2015, Dodworth exemplifies the characteristics of a well-rounded faculty member at MU: teaching, service to the university, service to the community, and scholarship. Cameron understands what it takes to build relationships with students, faculty, and staff members at MU and is frequently seen at athletic and cultural events supporting students. He is an active and respected faculty member having served as a faculty senator and as the current vice chair of the Faculty Senate. He is also the director for the MU Center for Research and Creativity, which hosts the university’s annual week-long Symposium on Research and Creativity highlighting student and faculty scholarship.

Outstanding Staff: Dave Eavenson ’96

After graduating from Methodist University, Eavenson earned a master’s degree in education from SUNY Brockport. In 2000, Eavenson returned to Methodist University as an offensive coordinator for the football program. He has held several other positions at Methodist since then, including head football coach and assistant director of athletics. Since taking over as vice president and director of athletics in 2017, Eavenson and his team have raised $150,265.96 for athletics between the Hall of Fame Golf Tournament and other various other programs. Eavenson is a true team player for the University and goes above and beyond his role to support student-athletes, his staff, and the rest of the campus community.

Philanthropist Award: The Stout Family

The Stout Family has been financially supporting Methodist University since 1956 when Joe Stout, Jr. donated a 120-acre tract of land which would become the largest part of campus. In 2006 Joe Stout Jr.’s son, Frank, and his wife Carol, made a large financial gift to help fund the new Admissions building, named in honor of Joe Stout, Jr. Frank and Carol also established three endowed scholarships with a combined total of for more than $225,000. In 2021, Carol and her son, Cam, made a $1.5 million commitment to name MU’s Physician Assistant Complex after Frank passed away unexpectedly.