Residence hall officials honored 13 students on Wednesday with Nancy Welch Awards for organizing campus events that increased UB's level of community - road trips, cultural events, haunted hallways and impromptu football games.
The award was established in 1979 in memory of Welch, a residential coordinator who played a key role in creating a sense of community among students in the then-newly constructed Ellicott Complex.
Claude Welch, a professor of political science who was married to Nancy Welch, posed a question to those in attendance.
"How do you develop a sense of community among 2,500 students?" Welch asked. "How will the RAs, how will the students, how will the faculty come together?"
The annual competition gives undergraduate students living on campus a chance to rise to the challenge and answer that very question.
The Nancy Welch Award recognizes students involved in projects that foster unity among the UB student body, such as sophomore accounting major Ayman Ezzat, who tied for first place because he worked to organize a major student trip to Six Flags Darien Lake.
Ezzat was responsible for arranging transportation, organizing group discounts, providing food for the students and getting the word out to his peers.
The other first place prize was awarded to Cassie Johnson of Clement Hall and Ritu Sainani of Goodyear Hall for their work on "Step with Soul," a performance by the UB Step Troupe accompanied by a soul food dinner and informative lesson on the history of stepping.
More than 100 students participated in the evening, and many took something away with them from the experience. Johnson said she learned some valuable lessons.
"It takes a lot of effort and a lot of planning for a group to come together and have such an enormously successful community program," she said.
The entrants were judged on several different aspects of their programs, including the quality of the program, the extent of their involvement, the degree of participation by others and the value of the learning experience provided by the program.
This year, many nominees made a strong case for the award, residence halls officials said.
"It would be very hard to distinguish which of the programs were the best," Johnson said. "All of the RAs put in a lot of effort. I certainly wouldn't want to be on the judging committee."
Two programs were awarded with a second place finish. One of the winning groups was made up of seven students from Governors Hall Council who organized Governors' holiday celebration, the "Haunted Hallway."
Samantha Boltax, Gregory Brown, Brian Danielak, Michael Deeb, Nirmit Kumar, Zachary Schrader and Katherine Young organized the event. Over 250 students who ended up attending "Haunted Hallway" found a Governors hall filled with costumed guides and floor-to-ceiling decorations.
These seven students tied for second place with Goodyear Hall residents Rickey Brown and Patricia Stewart, who won an award for their work done to improve food in the dining halls.
Brown and Stewart collected over 250 surveys in order to get information that could help the FSA provide for the needs of the students.
Alicia Beardsley, a speech and hearing science major, won third place for coordinating the Powder Puff Football program.
The program organized a girls' football league for the residents to participate in, with some of the players from the Division I men's team taking part as coaches. Over 40 freshmen had the chance to meet new people, be active, compete and have fun through the program.
"It's a good idea for a mixer," joked Director of Interdisciplinary Degree Programs Lee Dryden. "But it's a very good idea to foster community as well."
The competition for Nancy Welch Awards was stiffer than in past years, said Joseph Krakowiak, the director of the residence halls.
"We average about 20 nominations a year, and this year we had 27, which is very positive," Krakowiak said.
Krakowiak, one of five judges for the awards, said he was impressed with the quality of this year's applicants.
"There were lots of opportunities for us to celebrate the amount of work that people did," he said.
Many of the participants complimented the award as a valuable learning experience.
"It is sometimes important to reach outside academics to become better, more well-rounded people," Johnson said.
"They all say that it transforms them in some way," said judge Peter Gold.
Following the presentation of the awards, Vice President of Student Affairs Dennis Black congratulated the recipients.
"Because of the work you have done, the work the committee has done, and the work done by the individual we honor today, you will all have the opportunity to go as far as you can see, and beyond," Black said, motioning toward the large window that faced Lake LaSalle. "You have all contributed tremendously to this community."
