The Triangle

Issue date: 5/29/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Student Life

Media Credit: Student Life

The Undergraduate Student Association and the Office of Campus Activities hosted the annual Student Life Awards Banquet May 20 to honor the accomplishments of students and faculty at Drexel University.

"This award ceremony is one of our favorite events at Drexel," David Ruth, dean of students, said. "[It is] an opportunity for all of us in Student Life to celebrate the outstanding accomplishments of our students and student leaders."

Several awards had multiple winners, including both first-time recipients and previous winners. Shams Naim, president of the Drexel Entrepreneur Association and secretary of the Interfraternity Council, won the Ian Alexander Outstanding Commuter Award as well as the Dianna C. Dale Emerging Leader Award.

"I was surprised to win [the Ian Alexander award] and was really honored to win it because I knew Ian personally from Greek Life and a number of other things," Naim, a junior majoring in business and engineering, said. "It was great to win an award named after him and all that he did for student life at Drexel."

Naim said he felt honored to win the Emerging Leader Award for his efforts as the USGA's commuter student representative.

"I really cared for the USGA this past year and worked endlessly to pursue my goals and initiatives," Naim said.

Naim has won other Student Life awards in past years, including the Charles E. Etting Award and the Dr. Jacquelyn West-Ford Award for Religious and Spiritual Contributions to the Drexel Community.

Student Service award winner Lauren Jablonowski, a first-time recipient, said she was surprised to win but has worked hard to advocate the Delta Phi Epsilon sorority and the Drexel community.

"Through executive leadership positions in [the sorority] and serving as the Scholarship Chair for the Panhellenic Council for two years, I have been able to bring new programs and positive attention to the community," Jablonowski, a pre-junior biomedical engineering major, said. "In particular, I started the Panhellenic Pi Club to honor sorority women with a GPA over 3.14 [and] am the founding president of Rho Lambda, an honorary society for outstanding Panhellenic leaders."

Aditi Dubey, president of Drexel's Violence Information and Education for Women, was one of two recipients for the Dragon CHOICES Award. According to Dubey, the award was "the icing on the cake" to her duties as VIEW president. Dubey was nominated by Laura Dell'Olio from the Drexel Counseling center.

"It was rewarding to hear Laura's introduction as I sat on my table and realize that my efforts can hold a lot of meaning for someone else," Dubey, a senior majoring in biology, said. "It really was when I was listening to Laura invite me up on stage that I realized the extent of the impact a student's efforts can make, even on a small level."

Dubey also said she thinks a lot of leadership goes unnoticed on campus, simply because many students do not make themselves visible to the administration, making it harder for them to receive these awards.

Abby Dineen, one of five winners of the Dean J. Peterson Ryder Junior Award, said she was "extremely surprised" to win her first Student Life award.

"I took advantage of every opportunity I found here at Drexel, and made sure I exploited them to the fullest capacity," Dineen said.

Lonnie Snyder said receiving the Charles E. Etting Award motivated him to continue spreading cultural awareness and acceptance on campus through One in Four.

"I was really happy, and this motivates me to continue my work with One in Four at Drexel, changing the culture to make our campus a more respectful place for all people," Snyder, a junior mechanical engineering major, said. "I just talk to a lot of people about how we can change our language to be more respectful and make this happen on campus."

Veronica Barndt, a senior nursing major, received the Outstanding Peer Counselor of the Year award for her leadership in the Peer Counseling Helpline.

"I devoted a lot of time to this particular volunteer activity, including providing ongoing training for newer peer counselors throughout the year," Barndt said.

Ari Winkleman, a sophomore business administration major, won the Catch a Rising Star Award and the Residential Life Leadership Award.

Kia Perkins, administrative coordinator for the Office of Campus Engagement, received the Honor Dragon Award from the USGA.

According to Natalie Shaak, assistant director of fraternity and sorority life for the OCA, award nominations were collected by the Student Life Recognition Committee. Some nominations were distributed to Student Life offices, the Campus Activities Board or the USGA to decide the winner(s). Shaak said the recognition committee also handles awards relating to endowment, such as the Charles E. Etting Award and the Dean J. Peterson Ryder Award.

"Each has a stipulation on how it should be selected and distributed as part of the endowment," Shaak said.

Shaak also said other University offices, such as Residential Living and the Counseling Center, also collected nominations.

The USGA and OCA presented a total of 30 awards at the ceremony.


James R. Tucker Senior VP Leadership Award
Kristen Smith

Dean's Award for Outstanding Leadership
and Service for Graduating Students
James Breen

Dean's Award for Students of Color
HaeJi Choi

Charles E. Etting Award
Andrew Damron
Anu Singh
Justin Burkholder
Lonnie Snyder
Ashley Bathgate
Matthew Magee

Dean J. Peterson Ryder Juniors Award
Hahna Kane
Frannie DeFranco
Abby Dineen
Sarrina Shraga
Lauren Wetzel

Dean J. Peterson Ryder Seniors Award
Dillon Eppenstein
CJ Spencer
Selena Lin
Sean Miller

Marilyn A. Burshtin Memorial Award
Alexa Karkenny
Prineha Narang

Dr. Jacquelyn West-Ford Award for Religious and Spiritual Contributions to the Drexel Community
Moniquetta Hall

Student Organization Advisor of the Year
Warren Rosen

Catch a Rising Star Award
Ari Winkelman

Student Leader of the Year
Eric Eisele

Outstanding Student Organization Program of the Year
Homecoming Week, Drexel Traditions Program

New Student Organization of the Year
Sigma Beta Rho Fraternity

Student Organization Outstanding Service Award
Engineers Without Borders

Student Organization of the Year
Interfraternity Council

Fraternity and Sorority Life Dean's Cup
Delta Phi Omega Sorority (Multicultural Greek Council)
Delta Zeta Sorority (Panhellenic Council)
Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity (Interfraternity Council)

Ian L. Alexander
Outstanding Commuter Student Award
Shams Naim
Moniquetta Hall

Ann H. Wilson Heinl Service for Commuter Students Award
Selena Lin
Giang Au

Douglas Spears Memorial Award
Kelsey Gold

Outstanding Contribution to
International Understanding Award
Anubhuti Singh

Outstanding Peer Counselor of the Year Award
Veronica Barndt

Dragon CHOICES Award
Aditi Dubey
Kyle Reynolds

Residence Hall Student Leadership Award
Lorenzo Errico
Ari Winkelman
Megan Wilson

Campus Activities Board Above and Beyond Award
The event services staff: Niki Ververelli, Dana
Brown, Gillian Telford and Chris Weir
Father Charles Brinkman Award
Kristen Smith

Dianna C. Dale Emerging Leadership Award
Shams Naim

Anthony T. Caneris Award
for Outstanding Leadership
Andrew Gould
Dianna L. Hackney Award
Richard Kopp
Honor Dragon Award
Kia Perkins
Student Service Award
Steve Quatrani
Catherine Venable
Khushbu Kheti
Lauren Jablonowski
Lucas Hippel

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