The Marywood Student Activities & Leadership Development Office will host its first leadership awards ceremony in the Latour Room of Nazareth Hall on April 20 at 7 p.m.

Those in attendance will include Sr. Mary Persico, IHM, Ed. D., president of Marywood University, Ann Boland-Chase, vice president for Enrollment Services and Student Success and Dr. Amy Paciej-Woodruff, assistant vice president for Student Life.

Ivan Pecel, a comedian and juggler who appeared on MTV, “America’s Got Talent” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” will host the awards ceremony.

The event is the idea of Michael Kalage, a graduate student in higher education administration. Kalage realized there was not a program on campus to recognize students and faculty who have helped shape the university.

“People are working hard … we [have to] recognize them somehow,” Kalage said.

Kimberly Coleman, director of Student Activities & Leadership Development (SALD) Office, said she agreed with Kalage when he first approached her with the idea.

“We just want to recognize all the great things students do on campus,” said Coleman.

A total of 12 awards will be presented in the following categories: Sr. Mary Persico Emerging Leader Award, Outstanding Senior Leader, Student Organization of the Year, Advisor of the Year, Most Improved Student Organization, Pacer Pride Award, Outstanding Graduate Student, Sister John Award for Acceptance & Inclusion, Community Service Award, Award for Exceptional Leadership in Athletics, Program of the Year and Fishbowl Award, according to SALD’s website.

The Fishbowl Award will be presented to a resident assistant who has been a role model to students and who has expressed the ability to juggle the responsibilities of a Resident Assistant and continue to have great academic achievement, according to SALD’s website.

A non-partial committee consisting of faculty and administrators will be formed and divided into smaller groups to vote in each award category. Winners will receive an engraved plaque.

Nominations are being accepted now until March 22 at 4:30 p.m. and can be emailed to [email protected]. Nominations are open to all students, organizations and faculty at Marywood.

According to Kalage, self-nominating is also highly encouraged.

“We really don’t want people to shy away from self-nominating … when they’re doing job interviews, they need to learn how to sell themselves,” Kalage said.

Kalage said he hopes students and staff get excited about the ceremony and that this becomes a Marywood tradition year after year.

“We’ve never done this before, so we don’t really know what to expect. We really want it to be a great turnout,” Kalage said.

Qualifications for each award and further information can be found on the SALD’s website.

Editor’s Note: Student Activities & Leadership Development is actually hosting this event, not the Student Activities Crew.

Contact the writer: [email protected]