Individual banquets combined into Student Leadership Awards Banquet

This year, rather than having their own individual end-of-the-year banquets, student organizations have been invited to attend the Student Leadership Awards Banquet, sponsored by the Center for Student Leadership and Civic Engagement.

In the interest of instilling a sense of unity among student organizations, the Center made the decision to combine the banquets into one.

The change is just "one of a couple different steps we're taking toward unifying student organizations," said Charles Brown, director of the center.

Brown, Corey King, assistant vice chancellor for Student Experiences, and the heads of student organizations decided together to bring all of the campus organizations together under one roof on one night, according to Brown.

They feel that the combination will "add to [their] goal of establishing a more unified atmosphere to all of [the] student organizations."

Groups such as SGA, Media Board, and Student Union, among others, have all been invited to the new Student Leadership Awards Banquet that will be held near the end of the month.

According to Brown, at the individual banquets, leaders distribute awards to individual members and recognize the "Best of the Best" within their respective organizations. This year, however, the combined banquet will keep many of the same awards, but will focus more on the most outstanding in each organization rather than multiple individual awards.

"All student leaders can see other leaders being recognized and can see what other students are accomplishing outside of their own organizations," Brown said.

"Hopefully, it will spawn some future collaboration."

In addition to the goal of unification, combining the banquets into one large one is a cost-effective strategy, according to King.

Brown, King, and the student leaders from many of the campus organizations discussed making the change last year and concluded that, rather than spending at least $15,000 to $24,000 per year on banquets, they could put together one large one for $6000-about one-third of the original price.

The combination of the banquets also gives Chancellor Steve Ballard the opportunity to interact with student leaders all on one night, according to Brown.

"There may be four or five [banquets] on one night," Brown said about the individual banquets. The change will make it easier for Ballard to sit down with all organization leaders in the room at one time.

The Center plans to have a Student Leadership training retreat on the Saturday before the event, April 26, to discuss student leadership and what it means, as well as work toward unification among the different organizations.

"While each of these organizations do their own jobs and have their own responsibilities, there's an underlying principle that they're all student leaders first," Brown said.

The Student Leadership Awards Banquet will be held on April 27 at the Greenville Hilton.

This writer can be contacted at news@theeastcarolinian.com.