UHV honors student leaders, organizations during awards banquet
Despite only coming up on its first year on campus, Earthwise Collective was named, along with another student organization, as the Student Organization of the Year.
The Black Student Union was the other organization to also share the title this year during Tuesday’s Student Organization and Leadership Banquet at the University of Houston-Victoria.
Earthwise Collective is a student organization dedicated to spreading knowledge and awareness on campus on ways to make a positive impact on the environment, said Emma Matak, the organization’s president. The organization also works to bring community leaders on campus, collaborate with Keep Victoria Beautiful for volunteering opportunities and integrate UHV with the organization, the biology junior said.
“We have put a lot of effort and hard work in. All of the officers have put in countless hours working with community leaders, even with people out in the San Antonio Bay Partnership – we’ve worked with them on doing cleanups in the bay,” Matak said. “It just means a lot for our hard work to be rewarded, even though we do it purely for ourselves and for everyone else, but to be recognized is quite amazing.”
Jonese Cherry, president of Black Student Union, said she was happy to see that the hard work of her organization was recognized through the award.
The Black Student Union is a student organization committed to providing an inclusive space and giving support for Black Students, Cherry said. The organization is open to all students and is dedicated as a place where all students can be themselves, the psychology junior said.
“This award shows that everything that we’ve worked for, all the inclusivity that we’ve been fighting for this whole year, meant something to the school,” Cherry said. “We’ve been fighting to get more of a spotlight on diversity because we feel like a lot of our international and our Black students don’t get the recognition that they deserve, and this award shows that we are taking a step in the right direction.”
The 11th annual UHV Student Organization and Leadership Banquet was held on April 30 in the UHV University North Multi-Purpose Room. Students, faculty and staff attended the event to recognize the students, advisors, newly chartered organizations and the student leaders in their respective organizations.
“A big part of what we do in our office is to try to get students to join student organizations and gain different skills,” said Freddie Cantu, UHV director of Student Life. “Leadership is a big one, but teamwork, communication, problem solving – these all help students for when they graduate and become professionals. Tonight, the banquet is all about recognizing our student leaders who have these amazing accomplishments throughout the year.”
To become a chartered organization, an organization must comprise a minimum of five members, including three officers holding a minimum 2.5 grade-point average and secure a UHV faculty or staff advisor. Additionally, the students are required to draft a constitution. This year, the newly charted organizations were Earthwise Collective, Campus Association of Spirit & Traditions, Jaguar Patriot Association, First-generation Jaguars and the Association of Psychology and Psychobiology.
Three students were recognized for earning ROAR Certified Leader certifications in one or more of the following areas: communication, problem solving, social responsibility and teamwork. The students who completed all four certifications were named Distinguished ROAR Certified Leaders.
The students who received ROAR Certified Leaders certifications were:
- Peyton Fails
- Riley Rivera
- Roshunda Kinney
Randall Jasek, UHV senior network administrator, was named the Advisor of the Year for his role in advising Jaguar eSports. The organization allows students to take part in the competitive scene of gaming, as well as serving as a platform for enhancing gaming skills and knowledge.
“I appreciate everyone who nominated me and the committee for considering it because this year had extremely tough competition,” Jasek said. “I couldn’t have done it on my own, I’ve had help from the student organization members, and they’ve done an excellent job this year. I can’t thank them enough.”
Other award winners on Tuesday were:
- Campus Humanitarian – Taryn “Kai” Samuels
- Emerging Leader – Emma Matak
- I Am UHV – Joel Murillo, Michael Meza, Payton-Alizabeth Hopkins, Kaitlin Lopez and Matthew Jackson
- Leadership Legacy – Cobey Wasicek
- Quiet Influencer – Peter Ifeduba
- Spirit of the Jaguar – Lauren Rodriguez, Helenavi Sumilong, Raquel Coronado, Shelby McBride and Jason Arrieta
- Student Employee Excellence – Natalie Carrasco, Katelyn Wisser, Darius Stafford-Bedford, Hanna Hatterman and Fernando Velazquez
- Student Government Member of the Year – Jacquelyn Velazquez
- Volunteer of the Year – Tah'Tieanna McLean
- Student Organization Member of the Year – Jonese Cherry
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 50 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.