The members of Wellesley’s administrative staff rose as one to honor Sarah Willis, the College’s events manager, with a standing ovation when Missy Siner Shea ’89, Wellesley College Alumnae Association executive director, presented her with the WCAA’s Faculty-Staff Service Award. Established in 1998, this award honors College employees who have exhibited excellence in serving Wellesley alumnae.

For a decade, Willis has been involved in just about every event on campus, including convocation, fall and spring open campuses, the Tanner and Ruhlman conferences, commencement, and reunion.

This year, “Sarah has been the go-to person for many of the details and logistics of several truly ‘special events,’” Shea said, including President Paula Johnson’s inauguration, A Very Wellesley Weekend, and the election night watch event. Willis also oversaw the visit of Hillary Rodham Clinton ’69 to campus in March, “when the plans were literally evolving and changing until the moment Hillary stepped on stage,” said Shea. Most of these events included a significant alumnae component.

“Thank you, Sarah, for your ongoing support of our endeavors,” Shea said. “Your attention to detail, inexhaustible energy, and the can-do positivity with which you approached the myriad of campus events this year were very much appreciated.”