30th Annual Leadership and Service Awards Announced

05/03/2021

The Student Involvement Center hosted the 30th Annual Leadership and Service Awards on Monday, April 19. This ceremony honors outstanding achievement and contributions in the areas of leadership and service for students, faculty and staff.

Vice president for Student Development, Dr. Sarah Cunningham presents Rachel McBeath with the Father Paul Reinert, S.J. Service Award at the 31st Annual Leadership and Service on Monday, April 19.

Sarah Cunningham, Ed.D., vice president for student development, presents Rachel McBeath with the Father Paul Reinert, S.J. Service Award at the 31st Annual Leadership and Service on Monday, April 19. Submitted photo.

Traditionally, these awards would be conferred in a campus community celebration in the Busch Student Center, but the pandemic disrupted plans for a fully attended live event. Instead, the 2021 ceremony was delivered in a hybrid format where award recipients were invited to a socially-distanced in-person program, which was live-streamed to the entire campus community.

The ceremony featured opening remarks by SLU’s new Vice President for Student Development Sarah Cunningham, Ed.D., with a special closing by Debie Lohe, Ph.D., the former interim vice president for student development.

For the third year, the program also featured a student keynote address from a graduating senior. This year’s student keynote was Jori Brewer, a Chicagoland senior majoring in Occupational Therapy. During her four years on campus, Brewer has served as both a peer mentor and resident advisor for Housing & Residence Life, a SLU 101 summer orientation leader, as president of the Black Student Alliance, and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

A new element to the 2021 program included personal videos from the award winner’s nominator, where they were able to introduce and announce the award recipient. This allowed our honorees the opportunity to be recognized by their nominators. While this was integrated into the program due to the special hybrid streaming, it will likely be part of future ceremonies.

The Student Government Association (SGA) also recognized some noteworthy recipients during the ceremony. For the first time ever, the Faculty Excellence Award winners were announced at the Leadership & Service Awards.

Each year the SGA selects SLU faculty for their outstanding commitment and dedication to teaching, and for their holistic care of students. These recipients were also recognized with videos from their nominator during the program.

A complete list of SIC winners, as well as a video of the entire program, can be found on the Student Involvement Center website. For a complete list of the Faculty Excellence Award winners, visit the SGA website.