Hastings College will induct three individuals and a foundation into its Pro Rege Society on Thursday, April 24, honoring Dr. Robin Koozer, Glen Moss, Judy Sandeen and the Kitty M. Perkins Foundation.
Hastings College will recognize the individuals and foundation for their long-standing dedication to the College. The ceremony will be held at Lochland Country Club in Hastings and feature a musical tribute by Hastings College Music. A reception begins at 5:00 p.m., with the dinner and ceremony beginning at 6:00 p.m. Tickets are $125 each, or a table of eight is $950.
Details and tickets are available at hastings.edu/prorege.
A tradition since 1997, the Pro Rege Society is the highest non-academic recognition Hastings College bestows. Selected individuals and businesses are known for their extraordinary service to Hastings College, significant philanthropic contributions and/or unusual commitment to the College over an extended period of time.
In addition to attending the induction ceremony, individuals can honor inductees with a gift to an area that is special to them.
Koozer selected Music Ensemble Travel, with gifts to this fund facilitating tours by the Hastings College band and choir.
Moss selected the Moss Family Scholarship, which supports first-year students planning to major in business or accounting who call Lincoln, Nebraska, or Crawford County, Pennsylvania, home.
Sandeen selected the Crimson Cupboard, with gifts to this fund supporting the campus food pantry that’s available to all Hastings College students.
The Kitty M. Perkins Foundation selected the Dr. Charles Richards Leadership Fund, which provides Hastings College students access to service learning opportunities and leadership training.
About the Inductees
Dr. Robin Koozer ‘76 served as a professor of music and department chair at Hastings College for 29 years. Koozer earned his Bachelor’s degree from Hastings College, Master’s degree from Kearney State College and Doctorate from Arizona State University. Hastings College awarded him a Doctor of Fine Arts degree (causa honoris). Named Outstanding Advisor, Koozer twice delivered the Artist Lecture Series Invited Faculty Lecture. In 2010, he joined the Hastings College Foundation as associate vice president for development. Formerly on faculty at the Bethel Woods Music Academy in Bethel, New York, Koozer still assists the National Association of Schools of Music. He served on the Nebraska Arts Council, and the Nebraska Humanities Council named him Nebraska State Scholar. Koozer’s community associations include Hastings Noon Rotary, the Hastings Symphony Orchestra, Masonic organizations, Hastings Community Theatre and the Omaha Presbyterian Seminary Foundation’s Board of Directors. Since 1972, Koozer has served the Music Ministry at First Presbyterian Church in Hastings as Chancel Choir member and director, among other positions in the music ministry and for the church overall. Robin and his wife Ann (McDougal) Koozer have two daughters: Dr. Margaret “Maggie” and Dr. Catherine “CJ.”
Glen Moss ‘74 has served on the Hastings College Board of Trustees since 1996, including a term as board chair from 2016 to 2020. He is also on the executive committee of the Hastings College Foundation Board of Directors. A legacy student from Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania, he and his father Fred Moss ‘51 created the Moss Family Scholarship Fund for students pursuing a business or accounting major at Hastings College. Now retired, Moss served as the chief financial officer and one of the original founders and owners of Commonwealth Electric Company of the Midwest (CECM), a national commercial/industrial electrical contractor headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. Among numerous achievements, CECM received the Nebraska Distinguished Entrepreneur Award and the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce Cornerstone Award. Moss remains on the board of directors of the YMCA of Lincoln and the Lincoln Track Club (LTC). During his LTC presidency, he helped grow the Lincoln Marathon and Half-Marathon. Glen and his wife Nancy raised two children: Kristopher and Jennifer.
As director of Campus Health Services for nearly 30 years, Judy (Raymond) Sandeen empowered Hastings College students to take responsibility for their health and well-being through peer educators. Sandeen, a 1963 Hastings College graduate, earned her nursing diploma from Mary Lanning School of Nursing and returned to HC as campus nurse in 1978. By 1984, she started the College’s first peer education group, the Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC). Later, she brought to campus or founded the following: Boosting Alcohol Consciousness Concerning the Health of University Students (BACCHUS), Peer HIV Education Organization (PHIVE-O), Alliance and College Acquaintance Rape Education (CARE). Sandeen held leadership positions in nursing associations and earned national and regional awards in collegiate health education. Additionally, she served as a board member for community organizations. She remains involved with the League of Women Voters, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), Nebraskans for Peace and First Congregational United Church of Christ. Sandeen is married to Jack Sandeen ‘63 and is the mother of two grown children: Eric and Amy. The Sandeens have two grandchildren.
Established in 1967 by Kathryn Melda “Kitty” (Shoemaker) Perkins, the Kitty M. Perkins Foundation supports organizations primarily focused on education, healthcare and rural economic development activities in Nebraska communities. The foundation has proudly supported Hastings College’s education activities, especially those benefiting students from smaller Nebraska communities. Kitty was born in 1891 in Hendley, Nebraska, and in 1918 she married Edwin Elijah Perkins. Edwin and Kitty moved their mail-order business to Hastings in 1918. The Perkins Product Company operated from Hastings until its move to Chicago in 1931. Before that move, Edwin created the powdered soft drink known today as Kool-Aid. The Perkins family donated funds for Perkins Auditorium in the College’s Fuhr Hall of Music, and before Edwin passed in 1961, the couple committed funds for Perkins Library, which was dedicated in 1963. In 1977, Kitty died at age 85, and her legacy of gratitude for Nebraska lives on through the foundation and her family’s philanthropic works.
Hastings College is a four-year residential college that focuses on student academic and extracurricular achievement. Discover more at hastings.edu.
