The VanCoug Leadership Awards were held in a decorated Firstenburg Student Commons April 19.
The VLA’s were created to award students and student organizations who showed tremendous leadership throughout the year. The awards were presented for Community Advocate, Emerging Leader, Distinguished Student and Club of the Year.
The Community Advocate award was created to honor those who contributed a significant amount to the community through advocacy, outreach, mentorship and time. This year’s award went to Maggie Handran, who was also awarded distinguished women of the year at an earlier event. Handran serves as an student ambassador for the campus, president of the Psychology club and co-president of the Cougar Pride Club.
“In the end, I am trying to show that they have someone standing behind them and passing the power over to the others, so they can take charge,” Handran said.
According to Handran, she empowered the student body by giving feedback, support, and tools to other students so they can commit actions.
As the evening progressed, Travis Toth was awarded this year’s Emerging Leader. The Emerging Leader Award is given to a student who has contributed to student life within their first year of involvement. This can be achieved through teamwork, positivity, growth learning and integrity. Toth is the Director of Communications for the Associate Students of Washington State University Vancouver, and one of his notable accomplishments included live streaming the student government election debates.
Students who have demonstrated leadership through collaboration, or have made an impact on campus were awarded the distinguished leadership award, which went to both Holly Varner and Adriana Toth.
Varner serves as a senator in ASWSUV, former president of the Cougar Pride club, Spanish club and vice president of the Veterans club. She has also been heavily involved in other aspects on campus such as planning LGBTQIA Conferences, Noche de Familia and Sexual Assault Awareness month.
An anonymous nominator said, “[Varner] has helped empower me and others to understand that we are students first, human and that it is okay to make mistakes.”
Adriana Toth serves as Lead Ambassador on campus, a member of the Enrollment Management Council, the Chancellor’s Students Advisory Board and a College Access coach. Toth is also involved in planning Noche de Familia and MOSAIC.
“Working in a team setting, as a leader, I need to get to know my teammates,” Adriana Toth says.
The History club was awarded Club of the Year. The award was created to recognize organizations that demonstrate active engagement in the community through innovation, inclusivity, collaboration, and outreach. The club hosted many events such as the Oregon Trail Game Night and a Trivia Social in order to bring inclusive events of student interest to campus.