With final exams just around the corner, and as the school year comes to a close, it’s only fitting to look back at the school year that was. With only about two weeks left, Student Governing Board plans to do this in true form as they celebrate the first ever Charlie Awards.
Formerly called the Student Governing Board Awards Ceremony, the Charlie Awards will be held Thursday, April 28 in the University Dining Room at 7:30 p.m. With 11 categories in total, the Charlie Awards are aimed at celebrating the efforts of various student organizations in the past year for bringing the Lewis community together.
Kristin Schumacher, director of student development and leadership, explained that the awards for this year were given a facelift in hopes of making the awards more personal to Lewis students, but more open to the entire Lewis community.
“I think in the past, the voting and the way that students were nominated and the way that the voting happened, was kind of restricted to just the students organizations where, really, it should be something that the whole campus should be voting on,” said Schumacher.
In fact, the entire Lewis community was encouraged to nominate an organization or a specific event held on campus on the Student Governing Board’s website. The nominees were divided into the 11 different categories which include “Best Organization in a Social Category,” “Best New Student Organization,” the Spirit Awards (which focus on specific events) and the “Mission Star” award which celebrates the “Student Organization of the Year.”
Ultimately, according to Schumacher, criteria is based on the five areas of responsibility that each student led organization is required to meet each year.
“Every year we ask our student organizations to fulfill five prongs of responsibility each semester. So in order to get any sort of University funding, [the organizations] have to do a community service event, a social event, an educational event […] a lot of work goes into that,” said Schumacher.
To make the event even more special, Schumacher explained that there will be a red carpet walk outside of the venue. Each winning organization in the 11 categories will receive a plaque recognizing their efforts and that Lewis University Television Network will tape the event.
“Everyone is so excited about it,” said Schumacher. “There’s going to be commentary, presenters and award girls, and I think they’re just really, for the most part, having fun with it and I know it’s going to be packed.”
And although the voting and nomination process is over, Schumacher explained that recognizing the students’ efforts as a whole during the Charlie Awards would be the highlight of the night.
“They’re able to take their ideas and concepts to completion and manage their homework and jobs and their student organization’s responsibility all [at once]. I think when people are trying to balance those kinds of things, they need to be recognized for the efforts that they put into it,” said Schumacher. “So this is our small way of saying [they’re] doing a great job and are adding to the vitality of life here on campus.”
Here’s a brief rundown of student organizations to be recognized at the first ever Charlie’s:
The Lewis Flyer
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