Honoring TU’s student leaders

By Kyle Hobstetter on May 25, 2021

With more than 300 student organizations at Towson University, there are hundreds of leaders who contribute to the university’s vibrant campus life.

On Wednesday, May 5, these individuals were honored by the Division of Student Affairs and the Student Government Association (SGA) during the annual Student Affairs Leadership Awards ceremony.

This year it was a hybrid event, with an in-person ceremony and reception held in West Village Commons that was also livestreamed on Facebook.

The event had almost 200 nominations this year, and, according to Ashly Huff, TU’s assistant director of leadership, the selection process was incredibly challenging for the committee of around 15 Student Affairs staff members and SGA leaders.

“It’s been great to be in a community with our student leaders, to recognize and appreciate them for all of their efforts, time and dedication to TU,” Huff says. “When reviewing nominations and selecting recipients, I’m consistently in awe of all that our student leaders accomplish.

“I try to remind myself that behind each nomination is a real person with a real life, a number of responsibilities, friends and family, and more, and each of them actively chooses to dedicate so much of their time and energy to making TU a better place.”

The event was one of the first times that students have been honored on campus in more than 14 months, after classes were moved to a remote, hybrid model due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Towson University President Kim Schatzel appeared in person during the ceremony, and in her remarks, she made sure to recognize how important TU’s student leaders have been during this tumultuous time.

“Quite simply, I want to say, as leaders among your peers, particularly during this time of uncharted territory that we’ve faced over the last 14 months, you are all achieving at a level that I know will leave you prepared when you leave TU to be leaders and make change in your communities,” said President Schatzel.

“You all make me so very proud.”

on Jul 10, 2018 at 3:23pm PDT

Each year Student Affairs and the 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.

One of the top honors given each year is the Hoke L. Smith Organization of the Year Award, which recognizes a student organization that has impacted the TU community through membership development, leadership, programming and service.

This year’s winner was the Latin American Student Organization (LASO). President Melissa Alvarez ’22, says that LASO is usually recognized by TU’s Latinx staff and members of the Center for Student Diversity. It was significant for them to be honored by the larger TU community.

“We faced a lot of adversity this past school year, and seeing that our organization was recognized means that we are fulfilling our mission of promoting Latinx culture on campus,” Alvarez says. “There were a lot of times we were hard on ourselves and the organization and had to remind one another that this school year was different, that no other LASO led in a fully virtual environment. 

“Being recognized for this award meant that the work done by our executive board paid off. The endless FaceTime calls, Zoom meetings and Google Doc sharing led to that very moment of recognition.”

on Jul 10, 2018 at 3:23pm PDT

Along with awards recognizing students and organizations that are already leaders, a special, new award honored TU’s emerging leaders this year.

The Mary Leeper Emerging Leader Award is named after the SGA’s former administrative assistant who passed away last year after working at TU since 1993. Leeper’s children, Kellie and Kevin, presented the award to Sydney Avelino and Tahera Rhamdeo.

“Every interaction she had with a student, she considered a blackboard—a blank surface to teach the ABCs of what it means to be here, to be college students, to be leaders,” said SGA Vice President and President-Elect Jordan DeVeaux, when introducing the award. “The molding began the moment you walked into the SGA office. There was something about the way she looked at us, like a proud parent who made you believe you could do anything. She made leadership elementary for us.”  

Student Affairs also featured the award winners on the Student Activities’ Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts leading up to the event. This year’s winners included:

Individual Awards Category

• The Margie Tversky Outstanding Adviser Award — Keiwana Perryman
• The Outstanding Service-Learning Faculty Member Award — Carol Norton
• The Outstanding Campus Employer Award — Campus Recreation
• The Student Employee of the Year Award — Hannah Knapp
• The Eco-Tiger Award — Karlee Perry
• The Outstanding Graduate Student Award — Lia Johnson
• The Mary Leeper Emerging Leader Award — Sydney Avelino, Tahera Rhamdeow
• The Unsung Hero Award — Maura Ffrench
• The Raft Woodus Social Activist Award — Dominique White
• The James R. Saxon Memorial Scholarship — Derek Gold
• The SGA Pride Award — Brendan Farrar
• The SGA Empowering Women Award — Anna Van Bloem
• The SGA Student Leader of the Year Award — Kaylee Franc
• Maravene Loeschke Leadership Scholarship — Motunrayo Akinloye
• The Mary Lee Farlow Scholarship — Ash Westage, Jaline Vasquez-Cruz
• The Diversity & Inclusion Award (OIIE) — Haley Fallang
• Sports Club Leaders of the Year — Logan Call
• Matthew Lenno Integrity Award — Jovan Martinez
• Fraternity and Sorority Leaders of Distinction — Caitlyn Arhar, Tyra Gresham, Julia Coreas, Erin Sherlock
• The Tiger Pride Award — Kristin Handley, Veronica Schmidt
• The Vice President of Student Affairs Award — Courtney Ferguson, Ashley Murphy, Briseyda Barrientos-Ariza, Rachel Daudelin, Madeleine Meyer, Garrett Zahner, Jordan DeVeaux, Malik Barry
• The Marion Hoffman Ethical Leadership Award — Jordan DeVeaux

Organizational Awards Category

• The Outstanding Community Building Award — Sisterhood
• Sports Club of the Year — Women’s Rugby
• Dr. Teresa Hall Fraternity and Sorority Chapter of the Year — Lambda Theta Alpha
• The Hoke L. Smith Organization of the Year Award — Latin American Student Organization

Program Awards

• Outstanding Multicultural Program Award — Pressure Points, sponsored by Bettering Black Minds
• Outstanding Program Award — TU Athletes Vote

Students who want to get involved in an organization can learn more by emailing Involved@Towson.edu. They can also learn more about leadership programs and workshops offered through TU.

For those who are hesitant about joining a student organization, Alvarez has very blunt advice: Just go for it.

“TU has hundreds of clubs to offer,” says the LASO president. “Don’t stray from what an organization may look like from the outside until you attend a meeting."