49th Robins Awards honor outstanding people at Utah State
Outstanding accomplishments of USU students, faculty, staff and organizations were honored at the 49th annual Robins Awards Saturday night.
The awards are the most prestigious honor bestowed on contributors to USU, said Karilyn Flake, Associated Students of USU’s traditions director.
“It’s basically like a Utah State Grammy Award,” Flake said.
The most prestigious of the 17 awards is the Bill E. Robins Memorial Award, named for the former student body president who was instrumental in creating the Taggart Student Center. The award, which is presented to the student who represents “the best youth has to offer,” was awarded to ASUSU Executive Vice President Troy Smith.
Among the reasons offered for selecting Smith were his contributions to the university in student government, as a resident assistant and as a university ambassador, as well as his creation of a new lobbying internship that allows students to lobby the Legislature on behalf of USU.
Upon receiving the award, Smith said he was “astoundedly surprised” and said USU has given him more than he has given back to it. He encouraged students to recognize their own ability and the opportunity they are given at USU.
“I hope that we can all realize that though we are one voice, we can provide the means and abilities to achieve miracles. I consider my opportunity to attend Utah State a miracle,” Smith said.
Awards were also presented for the Man of the Year, Woman of the Year, Talent of the Year, and Male and Female Athlete of the Year, among many others.
Man of the Year went to ASUSU President Noah Riley, who said he and his wife had been making bets about who would win, and he had bet on fellow nominee Rusty Rigby.
“The awards are great because I think they’re representative (of the university). All those guys deserved to win it,” Riley said. “It’s almost too bad you have to pick just one winner for the award.”
Woman of the Year Maure Smith was chosen for her participation on 19 USU committees, including the Graduate Student Senate. Smith, a graduate student and instructor in the English department, said she was deeply honored even to be nominated, but wasn’t sure what she’d do with the glass pyramid trophy.
“The mantle seems pretty self-congratulatory,” she said.
Female Athlete of the Year went to track star Jennifer Twitchell, who was named an All-American after placing fifth at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, the first female All-American USU has had since 1999.
“It’s an honor to get this award because there are a lot of very good athletes at Utah State,” Twitchell said.
Pianist Kurt Bestor served as master of ceremonies, bridging the presentation of the awards with piano performances, some of which he composed on the spot. Bestor told the audience that as a young man, his mother had instructed him not to play music on a sheet, but to “play a sunrise,” advice which had helped him get through the times when she made him stay inside with his piano while his buddies were outside playing.
Basketball star Jaycee Carroll, upon accepting his award for Male Athlete of the Year, found irony in what Bestor had said.
“I was a kid when my dad kicked me outside and made me play with a football or basketball all the time,” Carroll said. “I was the buddies outside.”
Talent of the Year went to Luke Hancock, a music major whose energetic performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 2 impressed Bestor.
“He’s a piano player,” Bestor said. “I’m just a composer who plays the piano, there’s a world of difference. For me it was a little daunting following him.”
The night’s levity was frequently tempered by acknowledgements of recent tragedies. President Stan Albrecht began the evening with a moment of silence for the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings.
Later, a groan of sympathy issued from the audience when Professor of the Year Laurie McNeill of the engineering department spoke of the first time she had taught a class – at her alma mater Virginia Tech.
“I would like to dedicate this honor to my friends and colleagues at Virginia Tech and encourage everyone here to work for peace,” McNeill said.
A new award dedicated to the victims of last year’s deadly van crash was also presented. The Legacy of Utah State Award is given to a
student “who shows commitment to the institution and their program of study, as well as demonstrates internal involvement and service, departmental dedication, perseverance during times of adversity and contribution behind the scenes.”
Though created to memorialize the agricultural students and teacher who died in the van crash returning from a field trip to Tremonton, the honor is not exclusively for agricultural students. However, this year the winner was agricultural student Coby Champneys, who was honored for his efforts to keep the Agricultural Tech Club alive after the death of so many of its members.
Champneys, accepting the award, recounted the last time he saw crash victim Dusty Fuhriman. He said they were side by side on tractors that day, and Champneys was giving Fuhriman a hard time about missing the previous class. Fuhriman responded by saying he missed it because he was helping his grandfather.
“What a treasured moment that was, to think I was giving him a hard time for that priority he had,” Champneys said. “So my prayer as we go on is that we give time to those priorities that we have.”
The Robins Awards were originally created by the Sigma Nu fraternity as a scholarship fund for the son of Bill E. Robins, after Robins died in a plane crash in 1954. But when the boy died of leukemia, the awards became what they are today. The awards are nominated and selected by a special awards committee, or departments, depending on the nature of the award.
-jenbeasley@cc.usu.edu