Honoring Towson University’s student leaders

By Kyle Hobstetter on May 11, 2019

With over 250 student organizations on campus, there are hundreds of student leaders that make a meaningful contribution to the campus culture. 

On Thursday night, Towson University honored its campus leaders inside the West Village Ballroom as the Division of Student Affairs and the Student Government Association held its annual Student Affairs Leadership Awards ceremony.

Each year Student Affairs and SGA honor outstanding students, staff, faculty and organizations that promote the spirit of active campus participation. This includes those who excelled in student government, community service, student employment, student leadership and much more. 

For Elizabeth Purswani, Assistant Director of Programming for the Office of Student Activities and chair of the Student Affairs Leadership Awards committee, this event gives TU a chance to honor students who give back to both the university and the community. 

“Their involvement on campus inspires new and incoming students to also get involved, which is important for student mentorship,” Purswani says. “The students involved on campus do so much for the campus and the greater Towson community. So it’s important to honor their hard work and contribution.” 

When offered the chance to head the committee, Purswani jumped at the chance to take the lead on this event. She admits that it’s one of the favorite events among the Student Affairs staff.

That’s because it allows the staff to truly appreciate the student leaders and their accomplishments.

“A lot of times, students do not know just how meaningful their contributions have been on campus,” Purswani says. “This event allows us to honor their growth and development through their involvement on campus.” 

Surrounded by black and gold balloons, the event featured remarks by Purswani, Corey Bailey, director of Student Activities, and university President Kim Schatzel. The event also featured student, faculty and staff from around campus.

There were over 80 students nominated, as well as five student organizations and five student programs. Students were nominated by faculty, staff, other students or through self-nominations. This year’s winners were: 

• The Margie Tversky Outstanding Adviser Award — Margie Tversky (TU in Northeastern Maryland), Janese Daniels (Early Childhood Education) and Anee Korme (Center for Student Diversity)
• The Outstanding On-Campus Student Employer Award — Jaclyn Fisher (Study Abroad Office)
• The Student Employee of the Year Award — Rachel Blevins
• The SGA Diversity & Inclusion Award — Jason Hamilton and Jordan Lean
• The SGA Academic Affairs Award — Kai Johnson
• The SGA Athletics Award — Ashley Cottrell
• The Outstanding Service-Learning Faculty Member Award — Melanie Formentin (Mass Communications)
• The SGA Service Award — Teresa Taborga-Urquiola
• The Eco - Tiger Award — Mark Jenkins
• The Emerging Leader Award — Edmund Savage
• The Unsung Hero Award — Neil Fung and Andre Williams
• The LeaderShape Vision Award — Kai Johnson
• The Outstanding Graduate Student Award — Ashley Palmer
• Mary Leeper Student Government Scholarship — Edmund Savage
• The SGA Pride Award — Khouri Lassiter
• The SGA Empowering Women Award — Courtney Ferguson
• The SGA Greek Leader of the Year Award — Connor Loube and Jana Sierocinski
• The SGA Student Leader Award — Khouri Lassiter and Jordan Lean
• The James R. Saxon Memorial Scholarship — Ashley Cottrell
• The Mary Lee Farlow Scholarship- Housing & Residence Life — Ian Lazarenko and Alexandra DeGraw
• The Vice President of Student Affairs Award — Alexander Best, McKenna Bondura, Chenise Calhoun, Freddie Dufresne, Jason Hamilton, Kai Johnson, Annika Phillipe-Auguste, Megan Scott and Faith Wade
• The Tiger Pride Award — Andre Williams and Makensey Schuchart
• The Marion Hoffman Ethical Leadership Award — Leah McLean
• Diversity & Inclusion Award- Sponsored by The Office of Inclusion & Institutional Equity — April Jones
• The New Organization Award — LGBTQ+ Alliance + Leadership @ TUNE
• The SGA Outstanding Student Organizational Service Award — Vibe Dance Team
• The SGA Organization of the Year Award and Hoke L Smith Outstanding Student Organization Award — Undergraduate Research Club
• Outstanding Multicultural Program Award — Asian Fusion- Campus Activities Board (CAB) Black Girl Magic-Sisterhood
• Outstanding Program Award —JDAIM (Jewish Disabilities & Awareness Month) Shabbat Dinner & Program- Towson Hillel

Students that are looking to get involved with a organization can learn more about what TU has to offer through Involved@Towson.edu. Students can also learn more about leadership programs and workshops offered through TU[BROKEN LINK].

For Purswani, students who get involved with leadership opportunities become introspective and develop goals for themselves. And by getting involved on campus it teaches them skills like time management, networking, teamwork and more.

“We want our student leaders to have a sense of responsibility in themselves and their campus community,” she says. “The goal of leadership in the Office of Student Activities is for students to be guided on a journey of discovery, self-reflection, and integrity to support enacting positive sustainable change.”