Building safer communities: Megan Rookard named 2025 recipient of Dr. Dan Evans Alumni Leadership Award

Megan Rookard never set out to become a leader. But through passionate advocacy and a relentless drive to meet community needs, she has become exactly that.

Rookard, coordinator and advocate for Pathways’ Porchlight Sexual Assault Resource Center in Kentucky, has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the Dr. Dan Evans 51�� Southern Alumni Leadership Award. She will be honored at the Graduation Recognition Ceremony on Thursday, May 1, at 7 p.m. in Shafer Courtyard.

A two-time graduate of with degrees in human services technology and studio art, Rookard brings a rare combination of empathy, creativity and determination to her work. Her days are spent designing educational programming, training volunteers and standing beside survivors of sexual harm in moments when support matters most. And while doing so, she is building a culture where prevention is possible and survivors are not alone.

Rookard began her career teaching bystander intervention strategies in schools—showing young people how to recognize harm and how to act.

“It’s not always the responsibility of the person experiencing harm to stop it,” she said. “We teach that it’s everyone’s responsibility to step in, and we help students discover what that looks like for them.”

That work sparked something in her. She soon took on a leadership role, developing community-specific programming and helping train the advocates who meet survivors at the hospital in moments of crisis.

“Sometimes it’s answering legal questions,” she said. “Sometimes it’s just getting someone a glass of water. Whatever we can do to make that process easier.”

Rookard also created a peer advocacy initiative for college students, adapting the center’s training materials to empower young adults to support their friends. The effort has expanded to other helping professionals, offering practical guidance for those difficult first conversations.

Throughout her work, Rookard’s leadership style remains grounded in collaboration.

“We’re a team,” she said. “Everyone brings strengths. I don’t ask anything of others that I wouldn’t do myself.”

Rookard’s path to this work wasn’t linear. After earning an associate degree in human services technology, she took what she calls “a big left turn” and earned a bachelor’s degree in studio art—uncertain at the time what she wanted to do next. But her experiences in the art program ended up preparing her in unexpected ways.

“My time in the art program really taught me creative problem-solving, a lot of teamwork and how to approach challenges from new angles,” she said. “And that’s what I do every day now—I come at old problems in new ways and try to find something that works.”

She also credits her professors with shaping her mindset.

“Tom Suter was that perfect balance of nurturing and tough love—he made me want to do my best work,” she said. “Dennis Stewart taught me that craftsmanship matters. The care you put into something, the polish—it can help you reach someone you might not have otherwise.”

One course that has had a lasting impact on her is Women in Writing, taught by Christina Baker.

“I think about that class almost daily,” Rookard said. “It absolutely helped prepare me for engaging in the topics I work with now. Christina met people where they were—whatever background or opinion they brought—and created space for real, honest discussion. That’s something I try to do now in my own work.”

The need for open, honest conversation is central to Rookard’s mission.

“A lot of folks are very hesitant to talk about sex in general, so they really don’t want to talk about sexual harm,” she said. “It’s a big, scary conversation. But it has to be normalized if we’re ever going to address it. We’re seeing progress. College students are asking us, ‘What do I do if someone tells me they’ve been assaulted?’ They want to help. That tells me we’re getting somewhere.”

In reflecting on her time at 51�� Southern, Rookard described the campus as an environment that gave her space to explore.

“It felt like home right away,” she said. “Even though I didn’t have a clear direction at first, this campus gave me the flexibility to figure it out. It absolutely helped prepare me for the work I do now.”

Dr. Dan Evans, for whom the award is named, was a first-generation college graduate and former dean of 51�� Southern who believed deeply in the role of education to open doors and empower communities. Rookard’s work reflects that legacy in action. Her efforts to bridge resource gaps, destigmatize conversations around sexual harm and advocate for stronger community responses are making a lasting impact.

“My advice to students is to stay open,” she said. “Don’t lock yourself into one idea of what you should be doing. Follow what calls to you. That’s where you’ll find the most fulfillment—and where you’ll make the most difference.”

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