Alice Henry
academic adviser, College of Health Professions
Alice Henry retires after her second stint at WSU. She and her husband, Fred, are celebrating her retirement with a trip to the Bahamas.
Henry originally came to WSU in 2000. In 2004, her husband’s job relocated him to Texas where she resumed university life at the University of Texas at San Antonio. After her husband retired, the Henrys moved back to Kansas and Alice came back to WSU.
Henry has an adventurous spirit but did not consider herself to be an “outdoor woman.” Then she heard about a program for women to experience the outdoors. When she could not convince any of her girlfriends to accompany her on the trip, she signed up to go alone. One of the photos that decorated her office was of a 27-inch wiper fish. Henry, first-time fisherwoman, caught the fish during the “Becoming an Outdoor Woman” excursion at Rock Springs 4-H Center in Junction City, Kan.
“One thing I have always admired about Alice was her Shocker Spirit,” said Carmen Hytche, director of special events, “but I did not know the story behind it.”
One of Henry’s early WSU experiences was the Shocker Pride Celebration. The event featured a Shocker spirit contest, and on the invitation attendees were encouraged to dress in their Shocker best to win a prize. Henry asked co-worker Toni Neff, manager of student services for the College of Health Professions, about the contest.
“I told her that she needed to dress up. On the day of the event she wore black pants and a black shirt. We pulled things from my office to complete her look,” said Neff. The end result was a cross between Wu Shock and the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz.
“When we got over to the Rhatigan Student Center, I realized that no one else had ‘dressed up’ like I did,” Henry said.
“Alice loves to win prizes and she won a wonderful Shocker basket for her effort,” Neff said. “This was the first of many Alice Henry costumes.”
Henry is also known for her costumes and concepts for the annual College of Health Professions Halloween Spooktacular. Her past costume history includes a munchkin from the Wizard of Oz, one of the seven dwarfs, Elvis and Mrs. Potato Head. All of these wonderful themes have been captured on film and were featured during a slide show during her retirement reception at the college.