Urbana University announced it will award the 2018 Knights’ Peace Award to Urbana Mayor Bill Bean during its Sept. 20 football game against West Virginia Wesleyan.
The award recognizes individuals actively involved in the promotion and support of peace by honoring the life and the spirit of Urbana University graduate Alicia Titus, who was killed on Sept. 11, 2001. The award honors individuals who demonstrate the following virtues necessary to persist in the quest for peace and unity: compassion, understanding, courage, justice, mercy, generosity, faith, nobility and hope.
A UU news release details why Bean was chosen to receive this year’s award:
“A natural leader who generously gives of his time, Mayor Bean’s humanitarian efforts include supporting children, young adults and the elderly through his involvement with Urbana City Schools, local scouting and 4H groups, the Area Agency on Aging, and the Caring Kitchen Emergency Shelter. His focus on peaceful resolution, collaboration, and family values is reflected in his daily involvement and leadership within the community.
“Serving as the mayor of the city of Urbana since 2012, Bean developed his devotion to the community growing up in Urbana, and his devotion to his faith and understanding earning his bachelor’s degree of science, majoring in philosophy and religion from Urbana University. Helping to establish a community focused on peace, Bean and his family helped to establish the city of Urbana’s membership with the International Cities of Peace Organization. He has called this ‘an honor that encircles everything we touch.’”
Bean and his wife, Audra, have a daughter, Teresa Matteson (husband Casey), and grandchildren, Lilly and Landon.
Bean was a trustee of Urbana University for 20 years and was the president of the Urbana University Alumni Association.
The inaugural Knights’ Peace Award was awarded to Logan Cole, a West Liberty-Salem High School student critically wounded during a January 2017 shooting at the school. His courage in the face of danger and capacity to forgive set an example that made him the perfect recipient of the inaugural award.
About the Knights Peace Award
Now in its second year, the Knights’ Peace Award was created in honor of the life and the spirit of former Urbana University student Alicia Titus, who was killed on Sept. 11, 2001. The award recognizes individuals actively involved in the promotion and support of peace and unity.
Through the recognition of its foundational characteristics of courage, justice, mercy, generosity, faith, nobility and hope, the award carries on the tradition of Urbana University and its valiant Blue Knights and helps support a culture of peace.
About Alicia Titus
On Sept. 11, 2001, Alicia lost her life along with so many other Americans in the tragic 9/11 terrorist attacks. She was a flight attendant on United Airlines Flight 175, which crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. In honor of her memory, the Alicia Titus Memorial Peace Fund was established in August 2001 by the Titus family and their church friends, all of whom have ties to Urbana University. It was created to carry out the legacy and spirit of Alicia’s life by sponsoring programs that promote and support a culture of peace at the university and within the community.
