The 25th annual Student Life Achievement Awards (STUEY’s) will be held on April 11 in the Rose & Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center.
The STUEY’s is an award show that honors the NSU community. Like the Academy Awards, there are golden trophies, student hosts and bands playing on stage. Some of the awards include Athletic Team of the Year, Undergraduate Organization of the Year and Alumnus of the Year.
Brad Williams, senior vice president for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs, and Mark Cavanaugh, associate professor in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, co-founded the ceremony in 1999. Years later, Williams is still proud to be part of the STUEY’s, seeing it as a vital part of NSU’s community.
“We wanted to try to do something that created a sense of community at the university,” said Williams. “We wanted to create this kind of award show that just had a feel like it was the Academy Awards,” Williams said. “And for a night, people were nominated and people are awarded.”
Sean Stanton, second year junior education major, resident assistant and president of the Student Alumni Association, is one of the finalists for the Student of the Year award at this year’s STUEY’s.
“[April 11] is when they choose the overall student of the year,” said Stanton. “So, of course that’s what I’m hoping for, but I’m honored either way to be a finalist.”
Stanton found out he was nominated for Student of the Year through several professors and other students congratulating him.
“I was surprised to be on the list,” said Stanton. “One hundred percent of the work I do is in the Fischler Academy, and it benefits the whole NSU community, but it’s within the Fischler Academy, which is only 300 students. So I was very surprised and honored to be picked out of such a small group of people in my academy, but also the college.”
In Stanton’s two years in the Fischler Academy, he has helped organize picnics, ice skating events and Friendsgiving, as well as helped students go to Key Largo and Miami Dolphins games. Stanton has also created two committees in the Fischler Academy with more than 60 students and is president of one of them.
“I’ve been able to, myself, directly impact over 3,000 students through events, so I would say that’s probably my best bet as to why I was recognized and nominated,” Stanton said. “I think I just have been like a facilitator of people starting to be recognized from the college and from the academy. I’m hopeful that it continues.”
Additionally, Jonathan Banks, associate professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and director of the Master of Science in Experimental Psychology program, is a finalist for the Professor of the Year award.
“I’d be honored. I’d be flattered to win that award, because I know it’s a very high honor for faculty members to receive the Professor of the Year award,” Banks said.
In his 11 years at NSU, Banks studied stress management and attention control factors, and has presented his research at local and international conferences. He has also worked with graduate and undergraduate students on collecting and analyzing data.
“Dr. Jamie Tartar and I just this last year received a large federal grant to fund our combined work, and I think that wouldn’t have been possible without the [supportive research environment] here and then the excellent students we have in the classroom,” said Banks. “So, I’m happy to be in that position, and feel honored to be able to help mentor students at Nova.”
The STUEY’s will start at 6 p.m., with the reception in the Carl DeSantis building.
“It’s the 25th. That’s a big deal. That’s a quarter of a century,” said Williams. “We are just almost doing a dead knockoff of the Academy Awards, which is what makes it fun.”
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