New Grad Receives Dunakin Award at Sacramento Commencement
Mark Dunakin was a beloved officer for the Oakland Police Department in California. A police sergeant and an 18-year veteran of the force, he served in criminal investigations and homicide, before transferring to traffic motor squad. He was killed in the line of duty in Oakland along with three fellow officers in March 2009.
After Sergeant Dunakin’s death, Union Institute & University’s faculty and staff joined together to memorialize him and establish this award. It is presented at the university’s Sacramento commencement ceremony held every other year.
Passion, heart, academic achievement, and commitment to protecting the public and serving their needs earned Sheriff Sergeant Ray Framstad, Merced County Sheriff’s Department, the Mark Dunakin Award for Extraordinary Achievement from Union’s Sacramento Academic Center.
Sheriff Sergeant Ray Framstad was nominated for the Dunakin award by his professors who noted that he excelled at being a “mentor and trainer, and a person with the knowledge and sincerity indispensable to the higher ranks in law enforcement.” Framstad is graduating with a 4.0 GPA from the bachelor’s in criminal justice management program, and even completed coursework from his hospital bed while recuperating from a serious burn injury.
Ray Framstad, BS Criminal Justice Management 2014
Sandra Lee, director of admissions at Union Institute & University’s Sacramento Academic Center knew Dunakin and knows Framstad. “Sergeant Mark Dunakin was a student and part of the Union Institute & University family, and very close to completing his undergraduate degree when he was killed,” she noted. “It is so rewarding to witness how Mark’s legacy has been kept alive through this award, and through the great work and commitment to excellence displayed by recipients like Sheriff Sergeant Ray Framstad. “Ray embodies the true meaning of a law enforcement officer,” Lee said, “and his faculty saw these strengths in him when nominating him.”
“I am so humbled by this award and can’t express my excitement. It is an honor to even be considered for this recognition,” said Framstad. The award will be bestowed by Union Institute & University president Roger H. Sublett and Captain Frederick H. Bobbitt, a past recipient, at Union’s summer commencement on Sunday, August 23, 2015 at the Sacramento Convention Center Theater, beginning at 11 am.
Past recipients of the Mark Dunakin Award for Extraordinary Achievement include Officer Isabel Resendez, Captain Frederick Bobbitt, and Sergeant Anthony Silva, all graduates of Union Institute & University’s Criminal Justice Management program.