The Top Dog Alumni Awards is a prestigious ceremony that recognizes notable Fresno State alumni. 

This year’s awards were set to take place on Thursday, Oct. 24, but were postponed early in the week of the awards until Spring 2025.

“Fresno State has made the difficult decision to postpone the 2024 Top Dog Alumni Awards,” said Fresno State Public Information Officer Lisa Bell, on behalf of the university, in a statement.

The postponement of the event prompts lots of questions. None of those questions have been answered satisfactorily by the university, and the answers that have been received do not remotely get close to a reason. This has contributed to rampant rumors and speculation. 

Through a public records request, I discovered that the Top Dog award recipients were notified about the honor as early as May 28. The recipients were told the event was postponed on Oct. 21, three days before the event. 

Honorees

The honorees were announced prior to the event on the Fresno State website. Their names are as follows: Nicole Linder, Gary and Marlene Peacock, Jim Boren, Carol E. Scott, Tami Lundberg, Lee Brand, Allysunn Walker, Sandi Taylor, Lloyd Fagundes, Ralph Fagundes, Fred Fagundes, Phouangmala Diane Phakonekham and Tony Akel.

I reached out to almost all of the honorees and other top sources, most of whom would not speak on the record. They all said they still don’t know the reason for the postponement. 

One of them did speak on the record. 

“I don’t have any info as to why it was postponed,” Walker said. “All I can say is that Nicole and her staff performed admirably.  I know these things happen, but my concern was immediately for Nicole (Traverso, event management and volunteer coordinator) and her hardworking staff.”

Walker also shared how she was honored to have been chosen as a person of color, and hopes that it continues in the future. Additionally, she thought of the disappointment of all of those who were traveling from around the globe to show their support. 

“We weren’t given a reason — it must have been something catastrophic or a true emergency to postpone so close to the date of execution and its potential effect on the brand, fundraising goals, alumni discontent, staff morale, etc.,” Walker said. “ Again, my heart goes out to those affected.”

I did a public search on the names. One of the honorees, for the Arthur Safstrom Service Award, is Gary Peacock, who stood out in a series of unflattering stories through a Google search. 

Peacock graduated in 1977 from Fresno State and is the retired president of sales at KLA-Tencor. He now resides in Park City, Utah. Peacock, along with his wife, Marlene Peacock, recently donated $7 million to Fresno State as a planned gift through their estate, funding scholarships in the Jordan College of Agriculture Sciences and Technology.

On Sept. 28, Peacock was involved in a confrontation while cycling in Park City, Utah, as reported by Parklift Town City News. The filmed encounter was with the driver of a car. The incident went viral online, along with coverage from national news sources like Fox News and the New York Post. 

Peacock got into a heated argument with Pierce Kempton, 22, in the parking lot of a skate park, stating, “You saw how close you came to me? It’s three feet, assh***.” 

The video shows Peacock forcibly holding Kempton as he calls the police, garnering millions of views across multiple social media platforms.

The body cam footage was released on Oct. 17, one week before the then-scheduled Top Dog Awards. 

Two calls to Gary Peacock on Monday, Nov. 11 went unanswered. 

FOIA’s 

For the past few semesters I have put in multiple Freedom of Information Act requests, better known as FOIA’s, and never have I had to jump through the hoops I have this semester to receive an actual, reasonable answer. 

I followed up its initial inquiry to the university by asking if the incident and the subsequent national attention involving Peacock had anything to do with the postponement of the awards.

In response to the query, Lauren Nickerson, associate vice president for university marketing and communications, made this statement: 

“Fresno State is not associated with this off-campus, out-of-state incident involving one of our Top Dog recipients and we are not aware of the specific details surrounding it. Fresno State needed to postpone the 2024 Top Dog Alumni Awards and the event will now take place in Spring 2025.”

I also reached out to Peter Robertson, director of development for the Fresno State Alumni Association, who pointed me to Jacqueline Glasner, executive director of the Fresno State Alumni Association, for a comment, who then pointed me back to Bell. 

I then emailed Brady Crook, vice president of University Advancement, on Nov. 8 asking for a comment as a final opportunity for the university to say something regarding the situation before a story was published. 

He never responded. 

But, less than an hour later I received a call from Esther Gonzalez, records access officer at Fresno State, regarding a FOIA request I had put in on Oct. 29. 

Legally, the university has 10 calendar days to respond to a public records request and the administration usually likes to exercise that right. For this request, they responded in eight calendar days, and less than an hour after that email I sent to Crook. 

I’ll leave it at that. 

The FOIA shared any emails in communication between the university and Peacock, which only sent back emails regarding the Top Dog Awards. 

Every award recipient was bcc’d on the email about the postponement, showing their name, but not their email address, except any of the Fagundes Brothers Dairy partners; Lloyd Fagundes, Ralph Fagundes and Fred Fagundes. 

I then checked the rest of the emails on the FOIA for their names. None of them popped up. 

Information on a FOIA request is subject to being redacted, if applicable. 

Some emails had names and email addresses completely redacted. In one of them, three email sections were completely blocked off. 

I’m not making any connection, but, oddly, every other recipient’s name was left unredacted. All of them showed up except for the Fagundes brothers. There may be a very reasonable explanation as to why they weren’t in the email, but not having them there seems odd.

Jumping through hoops

For this story, I have made multiple efforts to get a legitimate reason for the postponement. What initially started as a simple story on the future setting of the Top Dog Awards ceremony has turned into how the university, once again, lacks transparency. 

It’s not the first time either. The Joseph Castro and Frank Llamas situation, Title IX and now even simple questions regarding a long-time tradition of recognizing outstanding alumni can’t seem to be answered. 

As a public university, journalists and students should be able to talk to professors, administration and staff without having to go through University Communications first for an interview. That is called a gag order. 

A gag order is illegal, but that is a topic, conversation and story for another day. 

At this moment, The Collegian cannot confirm why the Top Dog Awards were postponed but will continue the coverage and bring an answer.