Kansas Wesleyan University
Kansas Wesleyan is proud to announce the winners of its 2025 Alumni Awards. Being honored this year are Abby Wray ’23 (Young Alumni Award), Dr. David B. Laha ’79 (Alumni Service Award) and Powers G. Porter ’12 (Alumni Achievement Award). Tom Wilbur will receive the Alumni by Choice distinction.
The awards will be given at the Hall of Fame Induction and Alumni Association Award ceremonies at 9 a.m. Oct. 25, during Homecoming.
Wray is an award-winning multimedia journalist, producer and weekend news anchor at KAKE News in Wichita. She won two first place Kansas Association Broadcasters awards for her work in the News Feature and Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion categories in July.
At KWU, Wray was a part of the forensics and debate team, earning five national titles in parliamentary debate, interviewing, dramatic interpretation, POI and novice prose, and winning the All-American title her junior year. She was an active Communications student, anchoring the news show, hosting a radio show and podcast, writing and editing for the newspaper, and live-streaming countless events during her time in school.
A Biology major, Laha graduated with honors, laying the foundation for his medical career. He was a prominent figure in KWU athletics, excelling in basketball, track and cross country. His dedication to these sports earned him induction into the Jerry Jones Kansas Wesleyan Athletic Hall of Fame for all three sports.
Laha established his podiatry practice in Overland Park, Kan., in 1985, where he has since become a respected specialist in the medical and surgical treatment of the foot. His expertise in reconstructive foot surgery and sports medicine of the lower extremity has made him a leading provider of care in the Kansas City area. He served from 2012 to 2020 on the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts and was the first podiatrist to hold the position of president of the board, from 2017 to 2018.
Porter graduated from Kansas Wesleyan University’s Normal Department on June 5, 1912, when he was one of several graduating speakers. He was born in Oswego, Kan. in 1891 and served as an educator in the state’s school system for 35 years. In his eight years as a principal in Olathe, from 1914 to 1922, he spearheaded the building of a new school.
He became the first principal at Dunbar School, for Black students kindergarten through eighth grade, in Salina in 1922. Porter was selected by Gov. Jonathan McMillan Davis in January 1923 for a special honor as a state delegate to attend the annual Negro National Educational Convention in Washington, D.C., in March that year.
In 1926, he moved to Atchison, where he retired from education in 1947.
Porter continued his involvement in civic affairs. He was widely known in Republican circles in Kansas and served as a campaign speaker for the party’s national committee. He rose to the post of grand master in his Mason lodge, and after his death in June 1973, P.G. Porter Lodge #142, was formed in St. Louis, Ill., and named in his honor.
Wilbur, a prominent business leader and community advocate based in Salina, is being recognized with the Alumni by Choice award. The Alumni by Choice honors individuals who have given unselfishly of themselves to Kansas Wesleyan University but neither graduated from nor attended the university. They must show a strong commitment to the university’s mission and exemplify outstanding commitment. Wilbur most recently served as chairman and CEO of BANK VI, a locally owned financial institution he helped form in 2005. In addition to his banking role, Wilbur is the managing partner of Wilbur Development, LLC, a company focused on real estate and community development projects and regional outreach.
He has been actively involved in charitable causes, and supported numerous nonprofit organizations throughout the years, including serving on their boards. His dedication to civic engagement led to his appointment to the Kansas Wesleyan University Foundation Board in 2019, where he served with distinction for several years.
For more information and to buy tickets for the awards ceremony, please visit www.kwu.edu/homecoming2025 or call (785) 833-4392.
For more information on Kansas Wesleyan, please visit www.kwu.edu/news.