The EVVY Awards, an annual show recognizing student work, will honor actress Jennifer Coolidge with its annual Alumni Award of Distinction at this year’s event in May.

Coolidge, best known for her work in movies such as Legally Blonde, American Pie, and the television show 2 Broke Girls, attended Emerson through 1985.

Alex Clark, a junior and an EVVYs executive producer, said the award is a way of motivating current students by recognizing alumni achievements.

Clark said Coolidge intends to accept the award in person at the event. The EVVYs have, in previous years, honored actress and TV host Maria Menounos, comedian Bill Burr, and actor and comedian Denis Leary.

Kevin Bright, founding director of Emerson Los Angeles and the adviser for the EVVYs, worked with Coolidge on Friends, for which he was an executive producer, and its spin-off show, Joey, where she had a recurring role.

Coolidge’s willingness to work with the school—though she never graduated, according to Bright—and the LGBTQ community sets a great example for those watching the EVVYs, Bright said.

He said he called Coolidge and asked her if she accepted the award.

“She was kind of shocked,” Bright said on the phone from Los Angeles. “She doesn’t think of herself as an awards type of person, but she was very honored.”