Students recognized for leadership at Magis Awards
Shawn Kelly (left), president of the Commuter Student Association and sociology sophomore, and Mathew Holloway (right), president of the Black Student Union and sociology junior, receive the Outstanding Student Program award from Heather Seaman (middle), director of co-curricular programs, at the Magis Awards on April 28. They received this award for their “Our Lives Matter” program last semester.
May 1, 2015
On Tuesday, April 28 in Nunemaker Auditorium, the crowd rose to its feet to give a standing ovation to Annette Tate, Sodexo worker, as she won the Outstanding Staff Member Award at the 2015 Magis Student Leadership Awards.
“I was just grateful, really and truly grateful because I try to give the service that I can. I wasn’t expecting anything from it, just to make everybody comfortable, you know, when they come to eat, and to let them know that I care,” Tate said.
In the 33rd year of the Magis Student Leadership Awards, students, faculty and staff gathered to find out which members of the Loyola community, out of nearly 100 applications, won the awards.
Caitlin Dobson, assistant director of leadership and student engagement, said they received more nominations this year than they ever have before.
“The Magis Award applications go live every spring and stay open for a month. Once the nominations are collected, we ensure eligibility of candidates. Once this is finished, I would say that we normally receive anywhere between 75 to 105 nominations per year. This year, we had 99 nominations, which is an increase from previous years,” Dobson said.
Dobson said that every year, the Magis Student Leadership Award Committee, made up of Loyola faculty and staff, use the same rubrics to grade each nominee and compare scores to determine the winners.
“I would say that the most challenging part of this process is realizing that we cannot award every student that applies. We receive wonderful nominations each year, but ultimately, there can only be one winner selected for each category,” Dobson said.
Lauren Poiroux, sociology junior, said she was honored and humbled to receive the Janet Mary Riley Award.
“There’s a lot of people here who are really passionate about pursuing women’s equality and working with feminism, so I know there was probably a lot of other nominees who are probably amazing, but I’m really excited. I’m really honored and humbled and totally overjoyed to have been given this award,” Poiroux said.
Dobson said that the most exciting and surprising part of choosing Magis Award winners is being able to learn more about the students who are nominated.
“Reading over the nominations and discovering what an impact our students are making at Loyola and in the larger community is so inspiring. We truly have some of the most remarkable students,” Dobson said.
