(Above) SIU’s Family Weekend is filled with fun for all. (SIU Carbondale photo) (Middle) This year’s SIU legacy Family of the Year includes (back row, from left) Noah, Sharon, Seth, Zachary and McKenna Walters with Caleb Walters in front. (Photo provided) (Bottom) Caleb Sanders (center) and his mother, Bobbie Haizlip (left), and sister, Chelsey Haizlip, are the 2025 non-legacy Family of the Year. (Photo provided)
October 02, 2025
Walters and Sanders families are SIU’s 2025 Families of the Year
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Two Illinois families have been selected as 2025 Saluki Family of the Year winners at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and each will be honored during Saluki Family Weekend festivities, Oct. 3-5.
Chosen as this year’s honorees are the McKenna Walters family of Marion, Illinois, whose Saluki roots date back 110 years – making them an obvious selection for the “legacy” Saluki Family of the Year – and the Caleb Sanders family of Salem, Illinois, a first-generation college student family selected as the non-legacy Saluki Family of the Year.
The Family of the Year committee was tasked with the difficult responsibility of choosing the top 10 finalists from more than 50 competition entries submitted by students. The finalists then submitted 30-second videos about what it would mean to them to be selected for the honor. Committee members Charah McKinzie, Brittany Swims, Charles Walker and Jennifer Phillips selected the legacy and non-legacy winners.
“Every year, it is such a rewarding experience to read all of the submissions from our students,” said Phillips, director of New Student Programs. “Hearing how SIU is not just an institution of higher education, but rather it is a special place where a family legacy is continuing or a new legacy is launching, is both heartwarming and uplifting.”
Walters’ great-great-grandma led the way
Walters, a freshman communication disorders and sciences student, said her family has been bleeding maroon for more than a century, as her great-great-grandmother Mary Belle Braden earned her degree in education in 1915 when SIU was still known as Southern Illinois Normal University.
“Her accomplishment began a tradition that has carried through generations of my family, and today, more than a century later, I am honored to walk the same grounds that she once did,” Walters said. “SIU has shaped Southern Illinois for decades through affordable and accessible education, groundbreaking research and the cultivation of leaders who give back to our region. As a Southern Illinois native, I take great pride in knowing that my university doesn’t just educate students but also strengthens the very community I call home. Choosing SIU was more than a college decision; it was a way to honor my family’s legacy while joining a tradition of excellence.”
Walters said what began over 100 years ago, has continued through many relatives since they continued the tradition as students and supporters, each “embodying SIU’s mission of excellence, innovation and service.”
Her paternal grandfather, Gary Walters, was not an alumnus but was an ardent supporter. Beginning in the early 1990s, Gary, a district manager for the Kroger Company, advocated for corporate sponsorship of SIU Athletics for about a decade, helping the program become more successful. Her father, Seth Walters, completed his bachelor’s degree in marketing at SIU in 1999.
Other close relatives in the Saluki legacy include:
- Donald Kinstler, maternal grandfather, 1969.
- Howard Jenkel, great-uncle, 1965.
- Kathy Kinstler Ferrero, aunt, 1991.
- Samuel Walters, uncle, 1998.
- Amanda Walters Killman, aunt, 2013.
- Josephine Killman, cousin, 2025.
“We are so honored to be chosen as the Saluki Legacy family of the year,” Walters, a Saluki Shaker, said. “SIU has been a huge part of our family’s story, and we are proud of our Southern Illinois roots. Winning this title truly celebrates our family’s legacy and the impact that SIU continues to have on our family and our community. For my family, SIU is more than a university – it is the heart of our story, the foundation of our contributions to Southern Illinois, and a celebration of our legacy of loyalty, leadership and lifelong pride.”
Sanders forging new pathways
As the first in his family to attend college, Sanders said navigating university life is a challenge, but thanks to a supportive family and the many resources and support offered by SIU, he’s succeeding and is currently a senior health care management student.
“I chose SIU for the beautiful nature and the fact that they never gave up on me as a Saluki and student, even before I attended SIU,” Sanders said. “I’m proud to be a Saluki. SIU has always wanted the best for me when it comes to support from my advisers or the other students who have always made me feel like I’m home. Here, no one has every misled me or made me feel that the impossible isn’t possible.”
Sanders said his mother, Bobbie Haizlip, and sister, Chelsey Haizlip, have been both “a strong support system and my best friends who have encouraged me to be better than I was before. My mother has always believed in my success, no matter what.”
He said the moment he and his mother toured SIU and got “the feel of the place, she knew it was going to be my next home, and the joy of her buying all of the Saluki merchandise she could made me realize I have the greatest support from my family and my school. She had to put her life on pause to keep mine going, but she always wants the best for me and knew that SIU could offer that. So she trusted them to take me in as one of their own.”
It's been a great decision, Sanders said, as his education at the university has gone above and beyond what he could have imagined.
“I enjoy going to classes, I enjoy seeing the faces, and most importantly, I enjoy knowing I can tell people I’m a part of SIU,” Sanders said. “I will be forever grateful that they took a chance on me. And I’m very excited to be honored as a Family of the Year.”
Families get special recognition, gifts
New Student Programs will honor the Walters and Sanders families with exclusive prize packages that include a one-night stay at Drury Inn and Suites in Marion, Illinois, to be used during Family Weekend or on another date, as well as Saluki swag, tickets to Saturday’s SIU vs. Indiana State University football game and special recognition and photos during the game’s halftime celebration.
The Family of the Year contest is part of a weekend filled with fun and action for Salukis and their families. Find the complete schedule of events and additional information at orientation.siu.edu/family/weekend.