As finals and the end of another year approaches, some hard-working students of the university were honored on campus for their efforts by WTAMU and the Panhandle community at large on April 29.
Academics, community service and university involvement were just some of the factors considered for deciding who was most deserving at the 32nd Annual University Honors Banquet. During the evening, 24 awards and scholarships were given out at what has become one of WT’s most prestigious events.
“It’s always an exciting time, seeing our donors and the students they are supporting come together and say hello,” Dr. Neal Weaver, vice president of institutional advancement, said.
The first awards presented were the “Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges,” a national award for students who have made significant scholastic achievements in the last school year.
Scholarships were also awarded by various organizations and individuals of the area, which were presented personally by a representative of that group or individual to the chosen students.
“We have a lot of great organizations and a lot of great things are happening because of it,” Director of Student Activities, Skip Chisum said.
Individual and group accomplishments within the campus organizations were also honored, as the various groups, clubs and fraternities presented the organizational awards. The groups who presented awards included the Leadership Board, Phi Delta Theta, Pulse and others.
Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Don Albrecht, then took the stage to announce the Vice President’s Awards. The people who received these awards were nominated by a student organization and chosen by the Student Honors Committee for the person’s achievement in leadership, advisement and contributions to campus life. Among these awards included Outstanding Student Organization Advisor, Outstanding Student Organization President and Outstanding Student Organization.
The prized “Presidential Order of the Silver Buffalo,” a rare award given to an individual or group for bringing national distinction to the university, was then presented to Senior Computer Science Major Patricio Reynaga for winning IBM’s
“Master the Mainframe” competition. In this competition, Reynaga spent three months completing advanced tasks from IBM, competing against almost 3,500 students from around the world to win.
“The most amazing thing about this award is that we give it out every year because we always have someone or some entity that brings that kind of distinction to the university,” Dr. James Hallmark, provost/vice president of students affairs, who presented the award in place of University President Dr. J. Patrick O’Brien, said.
Finally, the “Man and Woman of the Year Award” was presented. This is WT’s highest honor that has been given out every year since 1972. This set of awards is given to the two people who are deemed “the best and finest WT has to offer” for their work in academics and on campus. Thirteen students were nominated by the university’s leadership board. The winners were Senior Sports and Exercise Major Miguel Sosa of the Residence Hall Association and Senior Speech Communications Major Katie Gustainis, representing the Student Alumni Board.
“You look back at all the stress and sleepless nights and you wonder if it was worth it,” Sosa said. “Of course it is, but receiving awards like this just adds an exclamation point.”
