Financial Aid Director Receives LC Highest Honor

GODFREY - Director of Financial Aid Angela Weaver is the 2025-2026 recipient of Lewis and Clark Community College's highest honor, the Pantone 286 Award.

The award, named for the Pantone Color System identifier for Lewis and Clark's "Trailblazer blue," is given annually to team members who go above and beyond to serve the Trailblazer community.

"I am really surprised," Weaver said. "I'm very humbled to even be recognized or be talked about in such a positive way. I'm just grateful for the opportunities that I have here to serve others."

She started on campus in the summer of 1995 as an Upward Bound Tutor/Counselor and worked her way up. She has served as a part-time academic advisor, full-time financial aid advisor, and an assistant director in financial aid, and has been in her current role as director since February 2004.

"From those early days, it was clear she had a gift for mentorship," said President Ken Trzaska. "For more than two decades as director, she has navigated the complex, often stressful world of student plateaus and federal regulations with a level of grace and expertise that is rare."

Weaver moved from Boston, Massachusetts, to the St. Louis Metro area with her husband, who had originally moved to Alton to care for a sick relative.

Having obtained a bachelor's degree in biology, her original goal was to attend medical school. Then life happened - marriage and a baby - and she found the opportunity to heal others through other avenues outside of medicine.

Colleagues say Weaver is an inspiration to other Trailblazers.

"Angela goes over and beyond for team and the institution," said Vice President of Enrollment and Student Success Cherise Jackson. "She embodies the qualities that represent the Pantone 286 award. I am excited and honored to be a part of Angela's leadership journey."

She is also widely recognized and respected among her peers in financial aid at other institutions.

"The impact Angela has made on her professional sphere is evident through the respect and admiration that she receives from partners and institutions alike," Trzaska said. "But what makes her truly remarkable is that her dedication to service doesn't end when she clocks out."

Weaver is also an elder at Bethesda Temple under the leadership of Pastor Tanya C. Brown and Bishop Lawrence Brown, Jr., where she has served multiple roles.

"Her dedication to her church community is demonstrated through her leadership as a youth leader, her practical service as a bus driver, her organizational talents as executive secretary and nurturing spirits as a Sunday school teacher," Trzaska added.

Weaver is married to Deacon Robert Weaver, and together, they have two sons - Robert Jr. and David Weaver, a daughter-in-law, Cairrah, and her first grandchild due in November 2026.

The fourth Trailblazer to receive the honor since the award's inception, she said she is thankful and that the recognition only drives her to work even harder.

"It is a privilege and a blessing to serve the team at Lewis and Clark and the residents in the various counties in our community college district," Weaver said. "Together, we will continue to innovate and prayerfully make a lasting difference in the lives of others. When those we serve win, we all win."