Colorado State University-Pueblo’s offices of Student Life, Student Engagement and Leadership, and the Associated Students’ Government held the annual Student Leadership and Involvement Awards April 14. The banquet, which was themed “A Black Tie Affair,” took place in the OUC Ballroom and was coordinated by Tyler Hobson, a graduate assistant working with fraternities and sororities on the CSU-Pueblo campus.

Hobson was the primary coordinator of the event, but he said he couldn’t have done it without other members of SEAL and ASG. He said SEAL Director Gena Alfonso, ASG and SEAL coordinator Alexis King and newly-elected ASG President Sarah Zarr were a huge help to him.

Nomination for the awards were taken via the campus Pack Link system and were made by CSU-Pueblo faculty, staff and students.

“Anyone with a Pack Link account could chose who they wanted to nominate,” Hobson said. “We had over 100 nominations this year. We had 40 pages to review.”

Criteria and description of each award are located on the student website and the SEAL home page. Nominators were asked to write a short essay about the individual or groups they were nominating.

“Each award stood alone,” said Hobson,”Winners were selected by what was written about them.”

The decision regarding winners was facilitated by a panel of campus staff and faculty, and those elected could be elected for multiple awards, multiple times.

“Being a student, I could not be a facilitator,” said Hobson. “It was to make sure there was no conflict of interest.”

This year’s award categories included many for individuals and groups. For student organizations, there were awards for Diversity at Work, Event of the Year, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Wolf Spirit, Emerging Student Organization of the Year, Outstanding Student Organization Adviser, Fraternity/Sorority of the Year and Student Organization of the Year.

Individual awards included the Threlkeld Prize for Excellence, the Diane Blackwell President’s Leadership Award, Emerging Leader of the Year Award, Outstanding Campus Collaborator, ThunderWolf spirit, Most Valuable ThunderWolf and Student Employee of the Year.

ASG awards included ASG Member of the Year, Cabinet Member of the Year, Legislative Branch Member of the Year, Judicial Branch Member of the Year, Project/Initiative of the Year and the ASG Lasting Legacy Award.

“Winners will have their names added to the perpetual plaque [in the OUC],” Hobson said.

The most prestigious recognitions of the year were The Threlkeld Prize for Excellence, which was awarded to Robin Arwood, and the Diane Blackwell President’s Leadership Award, which went to Freddy Correamanrique. Arwood and Correamanrique were presented with trophies and graduation sashes. They will walk first at CSU-Pueblo’s May 2015 graduation ceremony and have their pictures taken with President Lesley Di Mare according to Hobson.

The Diane Blackwell President’s Leadership Award is Correamanrique’s third Student Leadership and Involvement Award. He has been proactive in his involvement on campus. He has served as ASG Senator, held the positions of both the historian and president for the Biology Club and acted as student chair for various departments and events on campus. He is currently a building supervisor with Auxiliary Services.

Correamanrique is a gracious winner, but he admits he doesn’t feel he was any more deserving than the other nominees.

“It’s not about awards and recognition. It’s about the actions that got you nominated in the first place,” he said.