Students and staff recognized at annual Robins Awards
The annual Robins Award Ceremony was held on April 5 in the TSC Ballroom. The evening ceremony celebrated 16 different Aggies for either their academics, leadership, athleticism, or overall achievements from this past school year.
As stated on their website, the Robins Awards are the most coveted of all Utah State University honors, They are named after campus hero and former student body president Bill E. Robins, who tragically died in a plane crash along with his wife Geraldine Robins, is the highest honor a student can receive. They left behind their son Nicholas Robins, who later died at age 8 from leukemia.
There is an award named after each member of the family that is awarded to a single student each year for outstanding academic performance, leadership and dedication to Utah State.
One of the highest honors of the evening is the Bill E. Robins Memorial Award, which was presented to business management major Breanna Beck.
“I think just being among such high-caliber people already is a feat to be named with them, and then the fact then I won, I can’t get higher than that,” Beck said. “It’s a huge honor.”
Beck is a part of a multitude of campus organizations including the Covey Leadership Center, She’s Daring Mighty Things and the Women in Business Association. She also volunteers at the English Language Center and competed in last year’s women’s stock pitch competition, which her team won.
“I’m a people person,” Beck said. “So I think my dedication to USU and the students around me is a huge thing because everything I do is for people like me, I always tell my friends, that I’m here for the people. That’s what I’m doing it for. And so, yeah, I want to excel academically and in my career, but as long as I’m empowering other people to also succeed. That’s where I feel like I’ve succeeded the most.”
Beck still has three semesters to go at Utah State before completing her bachelor’s degree. She explained how she plans to maintain the level of excellence that comes with winning the Memorial Award.
“I think maintaining what I’ve done and trying to become 1% better at each of those,” Beck said. “Everything I do is to help other people. And so I think becoming more engaged and finding more opportunities because that’s kind of my thing too, is the growth mindset and finding opportunities that maybe I’m not so comfortable with.”
Other award categories included male and female athlete of the year, which went to Darius Brown II, and Kelsey Kaufusi. Another was the Achievement of the Year Award which went to Miss USU 2023 Regan Tracy.
Recognized for her achievements during her time as Miss USU, Tracy used her platform to travel and perform STEM outreach all across Utah.
“I did outreach to over 1,000 people of all different ages and backgrounds, and I got to speak at a lot of different conferences that encourage women to get involved in STEM and just kids in general to join the STEM workforce. I was able to reach a lot of people with that and represent Utah State University in that regard, as Miss USU,” Tracy said.
Tracy passed off the crown to Alexis Lyman just four days later at the Miss USU pageant on April 9. She explained she is excited to leave the crown in good hands.
“You never know who you might inspire,” Tracy said.
Tracy was unable to attend the Robins Awards ceremony in person but was watching the livestream from out of state.
The Traditions Committee plans the Robins Awards, starting the October beforehand. Nominations open in November and close in February
Nominators are kept anonymous from those they nominate by the Traditions Committee. After all nominations have been completed a selection committee comprised of two Traditions Committee members, two faculty, and one alumni select the final nominees, who decide if they would like to apply for the award, and the finalists are chosen from there.
Traditions director Ashlynn Smith was in charge of this year’s event and will be a part of it next year as students’ event executive director.
“It’s super exciting,” Smith said. “It’s fun to get awards from all areas of campus because you have your academic ones, and then you have your service ones, your involvement ones, and then even your legacy of Utah State Award, which pulls from a lot of different areas.”
Anyone can be nominated. Students, faculty, and staff can nominate themselves or each other.
This year there were over 200 nominations for awards. Singular students as well as campus organizations were nominated.
Logan campus Aggie Shuttle drivers were recognized this year with the Gerald R. Sheratt Award. This award is specifically for a staff member of the group who shows dedication to a service for students that often goes unnoticed.
“It’s such a range of people because you have our student body president who does a ton for a university and then you have someone who’s like, ‘I want to nominate my roommate just because she always does her dishes,’ You know, it’s completely different but I think it’s cute because if both of them apply, both of them can win an award for different things,” Smith said.