Rev. Andy Andrews and Kevin Overton-Hadnot to be award recipients
The Alumni Association of Seminary of the Southwest is pleased to announce the Rev. Andy Andrews (MDiv ’96) as the recipient of the 2025 Hal Brook Perry Award, and Kevin Overton-Hadnot (MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling ’23) as the inaugural recipient of the Dave Scheider Award. Both awards will be presented during this year’s Blandy Lecture and Alumni Convocation.
The Hal Brook Perry Award honors the legacy of the late Hal Brook Perry, a beloved assistant dean, registrar, and instructor in church history whose ministry shaped generations of Southwest students. The award recognizes graduates who demonstrate outstanding service to parishes, dioceses, and local communities.
This year’s recipient, the Rev. Andy Andrews, serves as Missioner for Beloved Community in the Diocese of Mississippi, where his work focuses on reconciliation, healing, and justice. Andrews has led parish communities, supported diocesan initiatives, and built partnerships that extend the church’s presence in places yearning for transformation and hope. His ministry reflects the spirit of faithful engagement and compassionate leadership that Perry exemplified and encouraged during his years at Southwest.
The Alumni Association also introduces a new honor this year: the Dave Scheider Award, named for the Rev. Dave Scheider, whose creativity and determination shaped the founding of Southwest’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. Scheider envisioned a program where spirituality and psychology were not separated but integrated—where counselors were formed as healers in every sense of the word.
The first recipient of this new award, Kevin Overton-Hadnot, embodies that vision through his clinical leadership and community advocacy in Austin. As founder of Counseling For Us, Overton-Hadnot has worked to expand access to culturally responsive mental health care, reduce stigma surrounding therapy, and create therapeutic spaces rooted in dignity and belonging. His work reflects both excellence in practice and a deep commitment to the well-being of the communities he serves.
