Asaline Scott, whose long career in banking has been matched by her generous community advocacy, is the Muskegon Community College 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient.
A tradition for many years at MCC, the Distinguished Alumni Award is the highest honor that Muskegon Community College bestows upon an outstanding graduate. The award salutes the achievements of exceptional alumni whose personal lives, professional achievements, and community service exemplify the goals of their alma mater.
Scott, a Muskegon Heights, MI, native, will formally acknowledge her honor with videotaped remarks to be included as part of the 2022 Commencement video.
After graduating from Muskegon Heights High School, Scott declined a scholarship to the University of Michigan to attend MCC as a working, non-traditional student while she and her late husband, John Arthur Scott, raised their family.
“The thing that impacted me most at MCC were the instructors who made ideas and difficult concepts come alive,” recalled Scott, who specifically remembers the individual attention given students by a Chemistry instructor. “Although I had graduated in the top 10 of my class in high school, I was deflated because I got a “D” in Chemistry. My MCC Chemistry instructor made the course interesting and understandable. Her patience and love of Chemistry enabled me to earn an “A” in college Chemistry. At MCC, I learned good study habits and discovered instructors like Judge Timothy Hicks, who not only had an open-door policy, but made time for you.”
Graduating Magna Cum Laude at every stop along her academic ascent, Scott earned an Associate Degree from MCC in 1990, a Bachelor of Arts from Grand Valley State University’s Seidman College of Business in 1994, and an MBA in Organizational Change and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion from Western Michigan University’s Haworth College of Business in 2000, when she graduated with three of her children. At GVSU, Scott received the Outstanding Senior in Finance Award.
Currently retired from Fifth Third Bank, Scott launched her banking career as a teller at Muskegon Federal Savings & Loan. Over the years, she also worked at AmeriBank, FMB Lumberman’s Bank, Huntington Bank, and Wells Fargo Bank. Her many positions have included Assistant Vice-President, Bank Officer, Branch Manager, Mortgage Regional Sales Manager, Education and Training Consultant, and Consumer, Small Business and Mortgage Lending Officer.
During her 45 years in banking, Scott has conducted Home Ownership Awareness Seminars to educate families on how to obtain Affordable Housing and Mortgage Loans.
A long-time community advocate, Scott is in her 13th year on the Community Foundation for Muskegon County’s Board of Trustees, where she is the Immediate Past President. She co-chairs the Frauenthal Preservation Campaign Cabinet, serves as Board Chair on both the Muskegon County Department of Health and Human Services and the Muskegon Covenant Academy. Scott is also a Covenant Hall and Muskegon Rotary Club Board Member. As Vice-Chair of the Black Women’s Political Caucus of Muskegon County, she focuses on community awareness, education and voter registration.
Serving on the Muskegon Rotary Club DEI Committee, Scott works with the Love Lives Here Campaign, the Muskegon Heights-Muskegon Rotary Community Mixer, and the ENPACT Forum (Police and Community Engagement). She is also a member of the West Michigan Symphony Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Cabinet. Additionally, Scott assists her alma maters by serving on the MCC Strategic Planning DEI Committee and the GVSU Board Leadership Committee.
Over the years, Scott has been involved with the United Way, Muskegon County Expungement Taskforce, Child and Family Services of Muskegon, Harbor Hospice, Muskegon Rescue Mission, Every Woman’s Place and Greater Muskegon Women’s and Children’s Fund. Scott was Campaign Finance Director for the Committee to Elect Brianna Scott to the Michigan State University Board of Trustees, running a hugely successful grassroots campaign.
Scott, who resides in Norton Shores, has seven children: Brian, Rodney, Kendra, Brianna, Stephanie, Jon, and Jeremy, who passed away in 2009. She has 18 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.