Athens, Ga. – Delta Sigma Theta Sorority was named “Organization of the Year” during the 13th Annual H. Gordon and Francis S. Davis Student Organization Achievement and Recognition Awards, given out April 17 at the Tate Student Center. The organization also shared the “Organizational Collaboration” award with Delta Zeta Sorority for its “50 Shades of Women” program on the roles and challenges faced by women in today’s society.
The SOAR Awards celebrate the accomplishments of student organizations at UGA.
Over the past academic year, the 32 active members of the Zeta Psi chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority have logged hundreds of community service hours and have hosted numerous programs for the student body, covering topics like gun control, HIV/AIDS awareness, sex trafficking, honors scholastic achievement, voter registration, women’s issues and youth empowerment.
Caroline Bailey, chief executive officer for Delta Sigma Theta, said the organization has had a productive year and receiving the award has been a humbling experience.
“The award goes to show that hard work and dedication to worthwhile purposes are never overlooked,” she said. “It is also prompting the chapter to engage in some self reflection on the ways in which we may better serve the students, the university and the community in the coming years.”
Bailey also received the “Pillar of the Community” award for her many leadership positions, including her organization of a campus-wide march in response to a derogatory Facebook post about UGA’s Black Affairs Council.
Other award categories and their recipients are as follows:
• Organizational Improvement: Miracle at UGA, for raising more than $507,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network, the largest amount of proceeds ever collected in one year by a student organization at UGA;
• Outstanding Service to the Community: Shop with a Bulldawg, for helping local children and families in need celebrate the holidays with essential clothing and gifts;
• Most Innovative Program: Campus Kitchen at UGA, for providing 13,000 meals to more than 200 elderly low-income and/or homebound adults in Athens-Clarke County;
• Outstanding Cultural Awareness Program: Lambda Alliance for its work in supporting the transgender community on campus;
• Outstanding Campus Event (Small): Camp Kesem at UGA, for its contributions to providing a supportive camp experience for children who have had a parent die of cancer, who is currently in treatment for cancer or who is in remission from cancer;
• Outstanding Campus Event (Large): “Journal of Language and Literary Education,” for hosting a literacy and social justice conference attended by more than 175 participants from 28 states and five countries;
• Outstanding New Organization: Project H.O.P.E., for its efforts to provide tutoring to children from low-income families whose parents do not speak English;
• Bulldog Vision Award: Victoria Brickenden and Victoria Illnick for their restructuring and revitalization of Special Olympics at UGA;
• Candice Sherman Emerging Leader Award: Rubi Rodriguez, World Ambassadors; and
• Adviser of the Year: Julie Evans, Special Olympics at UGA.
This year, 150 nominations representing 68 student organizations were submitted for the 13 award categories. A panel of 15 faculty and staff members judged the nominations.
The awards are sponsored by the Center for Student Organizations and the Leadership Resource Team. For more information, see http://stuorgs.uga.edu.
The Center for Student Organizations is a unit within UGA’s Division of Student Affairs.
UGA Student Affairs
The Division of Student Affairs comprises 20 campus departments that enhance the learning environment for students at the University of Georgia by stimulating the learning process, integrating the in-class and out-of-class experiences, promoting an environment conducive to growth and discovery and facilitating intellectual, spiritual, social, occupational, physical, cultural and emotional development. For more information, see http://studentaffairs.uga.edu.
