2nd Annual Student Organization Awards Hosted by Office of Campus Activities

by Angelica Sisson

Office of Campus Activities hosted the second annual Student Organization Excellence Awards in the Great Rooms of the Edward J. Pryzbyla Center on Thursday, April 27.
A myriad of organizations were nominated ranging from academic to cultural to service-based groups. The awards recognized academic pride, leadership growth, marketing, and creativity in both programming and general club activities.
“The whole event was quite thoughtful,” said Flannery Jamison, a member of Classics Club, which won Best Academic and Professional Organization. “Everyone seemed quite pleased to cheer on the other organizations.”
Students were able to nominate clubs using a form on the Nest. The awards were then voted on by the review committee selected by the Office of Campus Activities.
Emily Scanlon, Director of the Office of Campus Activities, was the host of the event and various student leaders presented the awards. The event was catered and a decorative cookie commemorating the event was given to each guest.
“I think it went really well, we got a good turnout,” said Anna Borges, a senior psychology major and Student Organization Management Coordinator in the Office of Campus Activities. “I think having all the organizations there in support of each other was a really great thing to see.”
Kathryn Jennings, Dean of Students, began the night asking the room to lift their glasses of non-alcoholic cider to toast the student organizations for all of the work they have done to bring events and camaraderie to the Catholic University community.
The most decorated organizations by the end of the night were the Student Government Association and Habitat for Humanity. Student Government Association won the Marketing Campaign of the Year, the Leadership Growth and Development Award, and their advisor, Greg Weaver, won for best advisor.
A new tradition was begun for the Organization of the Year Award, which was granted to Habitat for Humanity this year. All subsequent winners of the award will be named on a plaque that will hang in the Office of Campus Activities and each year a new placard will be created for the organization that wins.
The ceremony ended with a raffle for five hundred dollars to be put directly in the account of the winning organization. Organizations received one entry into the raffle for every twenty-five hours of service they completed. This raffle is derived from the former service requirements, which used to require every student organization to complete fifty hours of service a year.
“I’m really proud that we won,” said Borges, who is on the CUA Dance Team which won Club Sport of the Year. “We’ve faced a lot of adversity with girls quitting and coaches switching so it makes all of our work worth it.”
For the service raffle, American Society of Civil Engineers had one entry, the Filipino Organization of Catholic University Students had three entries as did the Knights of Columbus. The Filipino Organization of Catholic University Students won the raffle.
At the conclusion of the event, Scanlon thanked the student community and lauded them for their many efforts to better the community at the Catholic University of America.