Coastal Carolina University has named its 2011 Outstanding Alumni. The awards were presented as part of the University's annual Homecoming festivities.

Candidates nominated for the alumni awards are chosen by a panel of faculty judges that considers such characteristics as integrity, loyalty, leadership and civic involvement.

Tami Springs Brooks was named the 2011 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year, and Jason Michael Repak was named the Young Alumnus of the Year, a new award honoring an outstanding alumnus who has graduated in the last five years.

"Tami’s engagement with Coastal the past several years has been wonderful for our University," said CCU President David A. DeCenzo. "She brings a quiet, yet positive, energy to campus that is contagious to those around her. She is a true example of what it means to be a Chanticleer alum."

Brooks earned a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1980. She has served on the CCU Alumni Association Board of Directors, the University's Women in Leadership and Philanthropy organization and the CCU Atheneum Society. She raises funds for St. Andrew's Catholic School and the Franklin G. Burroughs & Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum, and she serves as adviser to the Long Bay Symphony. She is a member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Myrtle Beach.

Repak earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from CCU in 2007. He is a business analyst employed by with Rolls-Royce in Richmond, Va., where he also coordinates internships for CCU students. He interned with Rolls-Royce when he was a business student at CCU.

Outstanding Alumni of the Year awards were also presented to representatives of four colleges of the University: Erin Leigh Donovan for the Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts; Tim Hardee for the College of Science; Lisa Marie Rachels for the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration, and Robert Pasquale Spino Jr. for the Spadoni College of Education.

Donovan, who earned a bachelor's degree in political science in 2000, is a consultant and funding specialist. She was previously a vice president at the Mayforth Group, a government relations and consulting firm. She earned a master's degree in international relations from Salve Regina University and in policy studies from the University of Edinburgh.

Hardee earned a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1978. He is president of Central Carolina Technical College in Sumter, where he is recognized statewide for his leadership in growing and improving the facilities and programs of the college. He received the Outstanding Achievement Award for 2011 from the Sumter County Chamber of Commerce. He earned master's degrees in counselor education and educational administration, as well as a doctorate from the University of South Carolina.

Rachels, who earned a bachelor's degree in accounting in 1998, is an inspections specialist with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in New York. She was also a senior manager at Deloitte & Touche LLD in New York. She serves on CCU's Wall Board of Visitors.

Spino, who earned a bachelor's degree in physical education in 2000, is a physical education teacher at Forestbrook Elementary. Spino was a U.S. Army Airborne Ranger, and he served on the steering committee to establish the Student Veterans of Coastal Carolina University organization, which is designed to assist undergraduate veterans with the transition from military to student life. He is working on a master's degree in educational leadership.