WWU conference expert Diana Bakkom to retire
Diana Bakkom, Western's assistant director of Summer Programs, will retire on Sept. 15 after working with the university for 27 years. In that time, Bakkom has mentored Western athletes and established and directed Western's Grandparents "U" program. But, Bakkom is perhaps most well-known for managing and coordinating multiple conferences and other special events held at Western over the years.
Like many universities, Western is a venue for conferences held by organizations in the professional community. Organizations such as Kinship Conservation Fellows, Marrowstone and the Northwest Weaver Guild have held conferences and special events at Western such as Washington Business Week, the Western Washington University Children’s Literature Conference and Marrowstone Music Festival. During these events, Bakkom tended to behind-the-scenes work such as ensuring attendees had hotel rooms and all the materials they needed for the events to run smoothly. Bakkom has been widely praised for her work by conference hosts and Western staff alike.
Bakkom’s years of experience and connections in the Association of Collegiate Conference and Event Directors International, (ACCED-I) where she received an Emeritus Recognition Award in 2014, helped make Western into a leader in the world of conferences, said Marlene Harlan, Western’s director of Summer Programs.
“She's been very instrumental in leading us in the right direction and making sure that we have a lot of bases covered,” Harlan said, “A lot of our colleagues across the nation actually come to her for advice on ‘how did you do this’ or ‘I know you guys are doing this, so how did you incorporate that?’”
Eight years ago, Bakkom started Western’s Grandparents “U” program, which brings grandparents and grandchildren together to explore new concepts and learn together through several workshops.
"It makes total sense that she would have created a program like that," said Gregory Ward, Western's program specialist for Summer Programs, who will direct the Grandparents "U" program after Bakkom's retirement. "For the 20-something years that she's been here, everyone knows her as, like the sweetest lady that you'll ever work with... she's a caretaker, and she's a teacher by natural gift."
Grandparents "U" at Western started out as an idea Bakkom heard of through ACCED-I and wanted to bring to the university. She ran into trouble when she couldn't find someone at Western to put it together.
"I just said to myself, 'this is my passion, not anybody else's, so I need to put it together,'" Bakkom said. "To see these grandparents and these grandkids come together and to see them learning together, playing together, eating together, it's just delightful."
In the time that Bakkom directed Grandparents "U," the program has spread to Western's campuses in Anacortes and Poulsbo. The popularity and success of the program took Bakkom by surprise, she said.
"The first year, I thought we'd be lucky to have 30 people, and I think we had like, 65, 70," she said. "I was shocked. Now we run over a hundred a session just at Western [in Bellingham], and we fill our classes at Shannon Point [in Anacortes]."
Bakkom also took a deep interest in supporting Western's athletes, like Western senior Sarah Hill of Western’s women’s basketball team.
"She was my second mom, or my Western mom," said Hill, who came to Western from Virginia. "She made it a positive environment where if I needed anything or I needed somebody to talk to I could always go into her office and there would be a safe place to go and express how I was feeling. I'd always leave that place feeling better and happy and feeling loved and got that hug that I needed when I... didn't have my mother there."
Bakkom’s support of basketball players is something she’s done voluntarily for years, Harlan said.
"She goes to every basketball game and roots them on and is here for the athletes she supports, in case they need a little moral support or just anything because they're not from here," Harlan said.
“I think that Western will be losing a big heart and a big smile on their campus,” Hill said of Bakkom’s retirement. “And that anybody who just sees that smile has a better day.”
Bakkom plans to retire to Anacortes.