2000
Caring Hands
National Big Brother of the Year —
Alum Michael Bower
President Bill Clinton congratulates alum Michael Bowler in the Oval Office of The White House.
Michael Bowler (M.A. Education — Special Education: Mild/Moderate/Severe, 1995), appearing to the far left, was named 2000 Big Brother of the Year by Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America. Here, he joins three of his "littles" (the term used by the organization to denote his "brothers") and President Bill Clinton after the organization’s conference in Washington, D.C.
During the National Big Brother and Big Sister of the Year Conference, Jim O’Brien, the president and CEO of the sponsoring corporation, Valvoline, announced the awards. Bowler was cited as an exemplary role model for the hundreds of youth he counsels throughout Los Angeles. "As a Big Brother in the Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing Program, Mike has been an example of how to flourish in the face of adversity," the organization reported. "He has taken his own experience as a hard-of-hearing child and turned them into a positive contribution to other hard-of-hearing youth."
