Kat Bastien

Alumni and Development Program Coordinator

Kat Bastien grew up in Racine with her father’s University of Wisconsin-Whitewater degree on the living-room wall. Her older brother and sister are alumni, too.

“I just knew this was the right place for me,” Bastien said. She met her husband when they were freshmen living in Bigelow Hall and she held a student job at the Alumni Center to help pay her tuition.

It’s no surprise to hear she loves meeting alumni, hearing their stories and helping them reconnect to their beloved campus. She especially enjoys seeing them find old friends from their college days.

Bastien’s favorite alumni event is each fall’s 50-year class reunion. She doesn’t worry that she’s too young to appreciate the memories. The Class of 1959 may reminisce about gathering at the Goal Post; her Class of 2005 remembers grabbing lunch at the Graham Street Café.

“That’s why I have committees. I want to make sure their voice is heard,’’ she said. “They can tell me the history.’’

Her infant son will make his own college decision when the time comes, but his mother is likely to have a message.

“I just think this university really prepares its students for life, for a good life,” Bastien said.