The TJC Student Leadership Banquet, an annual event in which organizations, students and professors are awarded, took place on Thursday, April 20, in the Rogers Student Center, Apache Rooms.
Below: Public Relations Officer Raffe Andrewartha accepts an award for his work on Student Senate. Photo by Garrison Nichols
“This [Student Leadership Banquet] comes at a perfect time every year. It gives us a chance to reflect on what’s going on this year and we’ve done a lot of superlatives,” Dr. Tim Drain, associate vice provost for Student Affairs, said in his introductory speech.
The awards banquet was scheduled to start at 7 p.m. but a tornado warning delayed the beginning of the event. Once the alert was over for the TJC area, dinner was served while pictures of different on-campus organizations were displayed on the screens and a jazz band played music. The awards ceremony began after all the guests had been served their meal.
The Student Leadership Banquet has three parts, one that recognizes faculty and staff, another for student organizations and one for individual students. Organizations also have a space in the banquet to award their members or present to the student body. Organization Turning Point USA did not announce any awards to their members, and instead they chose to use their time to officially donate five framed copies of the national motto to be displayed in different buildings across campus.
The honorees of the night in the different parts were:
Catering from Texas Roadhouse was provided to students who attended. Photo by Garrison Nichols
Faculty and Staff Category:
- – Unsung Hero Award- Faculty Staff: Kim Chastain (Biology Department)
- – Adviser of the year: Christina Horton (Dental Studies Student Association)
- – Heart of Gold: Gigi Delk (Phi Theta Kappa) Organization Awards:
- – Community Service Project of the Year: Tri My Best Triathlon by Student Physical Therapist Assistants
- – Event of the Year: Criminal Justice Job Fair by Criminal Justice Student Association
- – Emerging Student Organization of the Year: Apache Aeros
- – Student Organization of the Year: Student Physical Therapist Assistants Individual Student Awards:
- – Student Employee of the Year: Leigh Meyers
- – Unsung Hero Award for Students: Sunny Siddique
- – Emerging Student Leader of the Year: Amelia Beam
- – Student Leader of the Year: Haley Farmer Other events of the school year highlighted during the banquet were the 75th anniversary
of the Apache Belles and Apache Band, the inauguration of the Apache Recreation Center in the fall semester, the replanting of 65 trees on Arbor Day, the recognition of The DrumBeat Student Media as top in college journalism, the recognition of the Alpha Omicron Phi Theta Kappa Chapter at TJC as the most distinguished in Texas, and the first national title for the TJC Apache Cheer.
Photos by Garrison Nichols
