Sydney Escritt, Carter "Cap" Peterson, and Lisa Nelson were honored during the Ron Holt Civic Engagement Awards banquet April 16 on campus.
Wayne State College senior Sydney Escritt of Hebron, Neb., received the Ron Holt Civic Engagement Award for the 2025-26 academic year, and Wayne businessman Carter “Cap” Peterson, a 1972 Wayne State graduate, received the Alumnus Civic Engagement Award during the annual Ron Holt Civic Engagement Awards banquet held April 16 on campus.
Lisa Nelson, director of the Service-Learning Program at Wayne State for more than a decade, received the inaugural Service-Learning Lifetime Achievement Award. Nelson is retiring from Wayne State in June.
Established in 2014, the Ron Holt Civic Engagement Award recognizes a graduating Wayne State senior who serves as an exemplary role model and contributes significantly to the service ethos of the campus and community. The award honors the work of Dr. Ronald Holt, a 1989 Wayne State alumnus and current Wayne State Foundation Trustee, known for his advocacy in LGBTQ+ wellness and civil rights.
The Civic Engagement Alumni Award honors a Wayne State alumnus community member who is civic-minded and exemplifies outstanding service on campus and in the community.
“At the Wayne State Foundation, we are honored to recognize this year’s recipients, whose excellence in service, leadership, and academic achievement truly reflects the best of Wayne State College,” said Dr. Bob Machovsky, CEO of the Wayne State Foundation. “Their dedication to strengthening our campus and community sets a powerful example for others to follow. We are equally grateful for the vision and continued support of Dr. Ron Holt, whose commitment to civic engagement and advocacy has helped elevate this event and inspire a culture of service that reaches far beyond our campus.”
Student awards include a $1,000 gift, a trophy, medallion, and recognition at graduation.
Students must participate in a Service-Learning Program project in order to apply for the Civic Engagement Award. Each semester, hundreds of Wayne State students make a difference in the community by participating in service-learning projects, contributing nearly $250,000 each year to the region in community service.
For these services, Wayne State was recognized as a member of the national President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for five consecutive years. In 2014, Wayne State was one of only three higher education institutions in Nebraska to receive the Honor Roll with Distinction in the General Community Service category.
Wayne State’s Service-Learning Program celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2024.
About Sydney Escritt
Sydney Escritt is the daughter of Bill and Lindsey Escritt of Hebron, Neb., and she is a 2022 graduate of Thayer Central Community Schools. Escritt is majoring in Chemistry Health Sciences, with minors in Public and Global Health and Biology at Wayne State, and she has been actively involved in the English as a Second Language Program.
Escritt has also served as a representative on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, vice president of Phi Kappa Phi, treasurer of the Health Science Club, and chair of intellect for the Philomathean President’s Honorary Society. In addition to her campus leadership, she has been a member of the Wildcat cross country and track teams.
Escritt’s academic and athletic excellence have earned her recognition as a Neihardt Scholar, a dean’s list honoree, a Myles Brand All-Academic recipient, a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference All-Academic Team of Excellence member, and an Edward Jones Presidential Scholar Distinction Award recipient.
Escritt has also participated in two service-learning experiences that deepened her understanding of community engagement. In one project, she helped organize and facilitate the Ideas and Conversations community event, creating space for dialogue around post-traumatic stress disorder, healing, and shared understanding. In the second project, she partnered with Wayne State’s U.S. Conn Library to analyze workshop assessment data, helping improve future student programming through evidence-based recommendations.
Escritt is currently completing her Honors Program research project, “Exploring the Impacts of Funding Instability on Biomedical Research, Clinical Practice, and Policy.” It explores how recent reductions in federal biomedical research funding may influence scientific progress, clinical practice, and health policy. Using a qualitative narrative approach, her project gathers perspectives from clinicians, researchers, and policy professionals to better understand how funding instability impacts healthcare delivery and innovation.
Upon graduation in May, Escritt will attend medical school at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She intends to continue combining her interests in research, medicine, and service to improve patient care and community health.
About Carter “Cap” Peterson
Carter "Cap" Peterson serves as a Wayne State College Trustee, sits on the Foundation’s Executive Board, and is a member of the Nebraska State College System Board of Trustees. He is also president of Northeast Nebraska Insurance Agency and was honored as the 2005 National Professional Insurance Agent of the Year.
Peterson, along with his family and friends, established the Nana Peterson Endowed Scholarship at Wayne State. This scholarship honors the memory of his late wife, Nana Peterson, and celebrates her deep love for the Wayne community and Wayne State.
Peterson recently honored Nana’s legacy by creating a community garden in her name. Nana’s passion for the Wayne community and the people who call it home inspired Cap, his family, and colleagues from the antique shop where Nana worked to establish this scholarship. The Nana Peterson Endowed Scholarship will be awarded to incoming freshmen pursuing majors in Music, Art, or Applied Science, continuing Nana’s commitment to supporting students who contribute to making the Wayne community what it is today.
In September 2025, Peterson and his family received the inaugural Family of the Year Award from Wayne State and the Wayne State Foundation. Peterson recently received the Citizen of the Year Award from Wayne America.
About Lisa Nelson
Lisa Nelson has worked at Wayne State for 21 years.
In addition to serving as director of Wayne State’s Service-Learning Program, Nelson also serves as co-advisor of Wayne State’s Nebraska Delta chapter of Pi Gamma Mu, an honor society that recognizes excellence in the social and behavioral sciences. Nelson received Pi Gamma Mu’s Outstanding Alumni Award at the Pi Gamma Mu Centennial International Convention in 2024. Nelson was initiated into Pi Gamma Mu as an undergraduate student at Wayne State.
Nelson is also the Honors advisor and long-standing co-advisor for the Phi Kappa Phi honor society, which honors excellence in all academic disciplines.
Nelson has served as a senator for Wayne State’s Professional Staff Senate (at large) since 2011, and she received the Lynette Lentz Professional Staff Recognition Award in 2019.
Nelson earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and her master’s degree in Social Sciences Education from Wayne State College.
About Dr. Ron Holt
Dr. Holt has a long-standing history of service to Wayne State, beginning in 2000 through volunteer speaking engagements each homecoming. His work has since expanded nationally and internationally, focusing on LGBTQ+ healthcare, mental health, and suicide risk reduction. In collaboration with Dr. William Huggett, a 1986 Wayne State graduate, he has also published resources dedicated to health and wellness within the LGBTQ+ community.
Dr. Holt’s contributions have been recognized through numerous honors, including the WSC Alumni Service Award, President’s Diversity Award, Alumni Achievement Award, and the School of Natural and Social Sciences Outstanding Alumni Award.
Currently, Dr. Holt serves as a student health psychiatrist at San Francisco State University and an adjunct associate professor at Kansas City University.