Kyle Van Frank

Kyle Van Frank won the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award in 2019.

UA’s theatre and dance community got together in 2018 for “Greater Giving: A Benefit for Five Horizons,” which supported West Alabama AIDS Outreach, now called Five Horizons Health Services. The benefit scored more than $4,000 for the charity – much more than the group had raised in the past.

And taking center stage was Kyle Van Frank, vice president of Alpha Psi Omega Theatre Honor Society, with a passion both for acting and for helping people and the environment.

Van Frank, a theatre major, also has been involved in the Student Government Association and the Blackburn Institute. For SGA, he served as associate vice president for Community and University Affairs and on the Executive Committee as director of Environmental Affairs – a way to express his strong ideas about preserving the planet.

On top of his service, Van Frank has been an active participant in theatre and dance productions, including playing Toby in “Sweeney Todd” and a character in the spring production of “The Drowsy Chaperone.”

“It is rare that we begin to miss those students before they leave, and that is indeed the case with Kyle,” said Seth Panitch, professor of theatre. “There is not a professor in my department who does not recognize the significant loss his departure presents us. His ability to shape morale with the quality of his character is, in my 13 years of experience at UA, unrivaled.”

Van Frank’s parents are JoAnne and Thomas Van Frank.