Robins Awards held Saturday, USU’s most prestigious event
The most prestigious event of the Utah State University year will be held this Saturday at 7 p.m. The Robins Awards are known as highly coveted awards by students and faculty.
The Robins Awards are awarded to students and faculty based on their hard work and dedication to their own goals, as well as the goals of USU.
“The Robins Awards are the premiere recognition given to a deserving student or faculty member in the USU community,” said James Morales, the Vice President for Student Affairs. “I have been presenting some of the awards since 2010, and my department also helps put on the event. Every award is very important.”
The awards show is a conglomerate of awards that have been created over the years and were put together in one ceremony.
“These awards give individuals and organizations something to work for, and is an opportunity for USU to give back to its students and faculty,” said Stefanie Brooksby, a program coordinator in the USU Student Involvement and Leadership Center.
Each year there is a two-week nomination period in February where someone can nominate another individual or organization for an award. Each individual or organization that is nominated is then contacted and asked to supply additional information on why they should be considered to receive the award. A committee then picks the finalists and winners who are asked to attend the ceremony where the winners are announced.
“The Robins Awards are unique to USU, and it is an essential part of showing appreciation to the work students do for the university’s community,” said Casey Saxton, USU’s extension marketing manager and last year’s winner of the Val R. Christensen Service Award. “What makes these awards so unique is that anyone can nominate someone, and the fact that people are nominated says a lot about someone. It is just such an honor to be recognized in that way.”
There are six awards nominated by students, faculty and staff: the Bill E. Robins Memorial Award, the Gerald R. Sherratt Award, the Man of the Year Award, the Woman of the Year Award, the Organization of the Year Award and the Val R. Christensen Service Award. The Bill E. Robins Memorial Award is the signature award given at the event, and is presented to the student who represents the best youth has to offer.
There are 13 awards nominated by faculty, staff and respective departments: the Eldon J. Gardner Teacher of the Year Award, Faculty Researcher of the Year Award, Faculty University Service Award, Graduate Student Researcher of the Year Award, Graduate Student Teacher of the Year Award, Legacy of Utah State Award, Peak Prize: Undergraduate Researcher of the Year Award, Professional Advisor of the Year Award, Scholar of the Year Award, Talent of the Year Award, Undergraduate Faculty Advisor of the Year Award, Female Athlete of the Year Award and Male Athlete of the Year Award.
“These awards are just such a great balance of tradition and recognizing all the people that work hard to make this university a better place,” said Alexander Aburto, the USUSA traditions director who helped organize the event. “This was a collaborative process with students, faculty and administration to put this event together, and I hope students recognize the amount of time that goes into planning this event.”
There is some history that is part of the background for the awards.
“These awards memorialize William E. Robins, a campus hero who had a rare quality to turn his vision into Utah State’s vision,” the awards’ website reads. “Robins was a Sigma Nu and served as USU’s student body president in 1949. He was also the primary and initial visionary of today’s Taggart Student Center. In 1954, Bill and his wife Geraldine died in a plane crash, leaving behind a 1-year old orphan boy.”
This is where the idea of the award was started.
“This prompted Bill’s fraternity to set up the Bill E. Robins Memorial fund to raise money that would provide a scholarship for the boy’s education when he was old enough to enroll in the university. Tragically, the boy died at the age of eight from leukemia,” the mission statement says. “Since then, the fund has been used to continue the Robins Award tradition.”
The 2016 Robins Awards is a black tie event that is open to the public. The theme is black and gold, and there will be food and beverages supplied throughout the event.
“The Robins Awards recognizes the best and brightest at Utah State University, and is an opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments,” Brooksby said.
For more information on the Robins Awards visit ususa.usu.edu/robinsawards.
— jillian.mccarthy@aggiemail.usu.edu