Join us in celebrating at the
CCAA Award Luncheon!
Saturday, April 1, 12:00 p.m. CST
The awards celebration will be livestreamed and available for viewing at a later date.
CCAA Award Recipients
Distinguished Alumna
Rayito received a B.S. in business administration from Northern Arizona University; a Master’s in international management from the Thunderbird Graduate School of Global Management; Executive Development from Duke University; Master of Jurisprudence in Health Law from Loyola University Chicago, and a Juris Doctor from South Texas College of Law. She has a Guardianship Certification by the State Bar of Texas and is a Certified Legal Mediator. She is fluent in English and Spanish and proficient in Portuguese and French. Rayito was a member of the faculty for the University of Texas School of Law, a member of the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys, and presented at the Annual Estate Planning, Guardianship, and Elder Law Conference in 2022.
For over 22 years, Rayito has represented banks that administer trusts in the purchase and sale of real estate. In 2015, the governor of Texas appointed her as a commissioner on the Texas Real Estate Commission, TREC. Her appointment was ratified by the Texas Senate, and she served for six years.
Rayito also served as Cottey Chair for the Houston P.E.O. Council and currently serves as treasurer of her P.E.O. Chapter. She has been a guest speaker at the Texas State Convention, Houston Founders’ Day, and The Woodlands Founders’ Day.
Rayito is eternally grateful to those who fought to give her opportunities and now she tries to fulfill their confidence in her by fighting for others with courage, determination, and compassion.
Margaret Hubele Cunnington ‘09
Outstanding Young Alumna
Margaret is originally from Richland, Washington, and graduated from Hanford High School. She spent two years at Cottey, earning an associate in science and art. At Cottey, she enjoyed spending time in various activities and clubs like AIDS Activists Coming Together, where she served as president and secretary. She served as secretary in CSC, was a member of Cottey’s
Judicial Board, and served as suite chair. She transferred to Portland State University, majoring in Health Sciences with a focus in community health education and health promotion. She was a member of the PSU crew team and Alpha Chi Omega. She moved to Perth, Western Australia, to take a gap year after finishing at PSU and eventually became an Australian citizen. Since moving to Perth, she has received a Master’s in Public Health and worked in various roles such as a training consultant for the West Australian Health Department, and as education coordinator for Cystic Fibrosis Western Australia, providing education to metropolitan, rural, and remote areas of Western Australia. Her intention is to ensure West Australians live longer, healthier lives to their full potential, unencumbered by the burden of disease. Cottey provided Margaret with confidence and the foundation to seek knowledge and explore her interests. With the supportive environment that Cottey provides, she was able to grow into someone who has been able to thrive living internationally.
Alumna Service Award
A native of Vernon County, Aimee (Starlin) Meyer graduated, cum laude, from Cottey College in 2002, with an associate in science. In 2004, Aimee graduated with a bachelor’s degree in public relations and a minor in marketing from Park University. After working in PR for nearly 10 years, Aimee and her husband Jesse (also a Nevada native) changed courses to partner in their family catering company. Since 2013, they have owned and operated Count On Us Catering, serving a wide variety of clients in the Nevada area, including Cottey College. They also have a vending machine company that includes the machines here on campus.
In 2021, Jesse and Aimee expanded their food service into the restaurant business. They opened Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers in Nevada and are building a second location in Bolivar, Missouri, this summer.
The Meyers are proudly invested and involved in their Nevada community. They are both members of the Nevada Rotary Club, and both serve on advisory boards for Nevada R-5 Technical Center. Aimee serves on the board of directors for the Nevada Regional Medical Center and is a member of P.E.O. Chapter DW. Their children, Sutton, age ten, plays football and basketball and Jovy, age eight, does cartwheels and backbends wherever she goes.
Honorary Alumna
Marty is a third generation P.E.O. and has a long-lived knowledge of Cottey College. She was not destined to attend herself, unless you count the many times she has attended Cottey Vacation College.
After receiving her computer engineering degree from Iowa State University in the mid-1980s, Marty returned to Texas and began her career at Texas Instruments as a test engineer, writing test programs for military project computer chips. She also holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. Over the years, she has held positions in test and product engineering, program management, project management, product engineering
management, and quality management.
She is grateful that she had a grandmother who financed her bachelor’s degree and recognizes that not everyone is as fortunate as she is. Her family legacy through her mother and grandmother is the desire to pass a little bit of what she has achieved on to others. Throughout the years, Marty has not forgotten Cottey. One of the benefits at Texas Instruments is their matching of employee contributions to educational programs. Marty used this benefit to encourage others to donate to Cottey by issuing matching challenges, where Marty would match their donations to Cottey. Then she would use the Texas
Instruments employee matching program to increase the benefit. $1 would turn into $3 for Cottey. Marty’s impact at Cottey is felt by many, by supporting the Fine Arts Building, the Center for Campus Life, and even providing scholarships for our students for years to come. Marty hopes that, in some small way, she has been able to pass along her success to future
generations of Cottey students.
Honorary Alumna
In 1964, Bev joined the faculty at Cottey as an instructor in Physical Education. Becoming a professor after having recently graduated from what is now Kansas State University in Pittsburg, Kansas, was beyond her dreams. Measuring up to Cottey standards was challenging at first, but she embraced the opportunity and fell in love with the College atmosphere of
devoted faculty and the challenges that came with it.
Bev is a P.E.O. member from Chapter AM, New Mexico, and served on the Board for seven years, presiding in 2006. She has served as State Cottey Chairman, a speaker at State P.E.O. conventions, and has visited several local chapters to share the wonderful experiences and life that Cottey offers its students. Currently, she enjoys creating stained glass windows,
playing bridge, and all things P.E.O. She is married to Gerry Quinlan, a former Computer Scientist at Sandia National
Laboratories and they have two children who are both Eagle Scouts. Their eldest son, Chris, is married and a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, and their youngest son, Craig, was recently married and lives in Atlanta and works as a veterinarian.
Bev has very fond memories of Cottey and, along with her husband Gerry, created the Beverly Bond Quinlan Scholarship with preference for New Mexico students held at Cottey. She continues to go to college fairs and shares the wonders of Cottey with prospective students and other P.E.O.s. Attending Founder’s Day Weekend at Cottey for several years has been a special part in her life, and she continues to impart wisdom and love for the College to current and prospective students, as well as other P.E.O.s. Bev believes with all her heart that “Cottey College is a promising place!”
Friend of the College
Karen, from Mount Pleasant, Iowa, served on the executive board of Texas State Chapter of P.E.O., and during her time as president, helped create the Texas Cottey College Travel Fund. Following her term on the executive board in 2019, she and her husband, Al, became members of the BIL Task Force to help raise funds for the Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Campus Life. She was initiated into Chapter K, Mississippi in 1985, by her mother, Doris McKasson, who is a past president of Mississippi State Chapter. In 2001, she had the honor of initiating her daughter, Allison Alford, into Chapter HD, The Woodlands. All three now share the joy of P.E.O. in Chapter JE, Kingwood.
Over her many moves around the world, Karen has been a member of five chapters and one overseas P.E.O. group in Belgium. Professionally, Karen has worked in finance, administration, sales, and management. She also enjoyed a very fun stint with the American Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as a visa processor when Al was working in the Middle East as the CFO of an international rice manufacturing company. After moving back to Texas, Karen began her career in real estate as a land developer while also serving on various P.E.O. state committees.
In addition to travel and being an active P.E.O., Karen enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, golf, and following their grandchildren showing FFA animals and barrel racing.