Anteater Awards 2021
Welcome
Award Winners
Outstanding Creativity Award
The Outstanding Creativity Award honors an organization that has utilized creativity and imagination to personify the organization’s mission and goals. This organization has taken advantage of the virtual environment to learn new skills, such as recording and mixing for their virtual performances and competition. Through their efforts, they were able to create an outstanding piece that showcased each member’s unique talents and one that reflected the trials and tribulations of the past year. This year’s Outstanding Creativity Award goes to Uniting Voices! Congratulations!
Outstanding Sustainability Program Award
The Outstanding Sustainability Program Award honors an organization that has promoted environmental stewardship and sustainability in the community through programs and events that not only educates their members, but also the community. This organization ran a “Save the Bees” campaign, which aims to protect the bees, their ecosystems, and our food systems and at the same time, they have educated and informed the community through an informative webinar, a public webpage, and a planned educational signage. Through their efforts they were able to certify UCI as a “Bee Friendly Campus”, deliver over 18,000 petitions to the Governor’s Environmental Staff in support of 100% clean energy, and have educated over 7,500 students during their recruitment drive. This year’s Outstanding Sustainability Program Award goes to CALPIRG! Congratulations!
Outstanding Virtual Service Initiative Award
The Outstanding Virtual Service Initiative Award honors an organization that has taken great initiative to contribute to the virtual UC Irvine community by providing virtual volunteer opportunities and projects to address community needs. This organization was committed to delivering high-quality software to nonprofits pro bono and provides their members meaningful opportunities to develop tech for social good. Their partnership with various nonprofit organizations has allowed their members to not only gain real experience in software development, but also tackle social issues such as optimizing virtual education and impact on healing families with incarcerated relatives. This year’s Outstanding Virtual Service Initiative Award goes to Commit the Change! Congratulations!
Executive Board of the Year Award
The Executive Board of the Year Award recognizes an organization’s executive board that encompasses an effective leadership style through consistent collaboration, genuine support to its members, and a commitment to accomplishing the organization's goals. This organization’s executive board has turned the limitations of the pandemic into innovative ways to connect their members with professionals and students from different campuses. They listen to one another by ensuring that each board member has the freedom to voice their ideas and opinions, and support one another’s career endeavors by sharing member’s accomplishments on their personal social media accounts. This year’s Executive Board of the Year Award goes to Sports Business Association! Congratulations!
Outstanding Educational Outreach Program Award
The Outstanding Educational Outreach Program Award honors an organization that bridges UCI with other educational institutions through programs that bring students to their next educational steps through k-12 or community college outreach. This organization has shown significant educational outreach by mentoring students at Westminster High School and giving them access to professional development opportunities - internship interview tips, resume building, and networking tips. Alongside their mentorship program, this organization has utilized YouTube to expand their outreach and educational opportunities by creating videos on topics ranging from arduino and solidworks tutorials to what it means to be a Civil Engineer. This year’s Outstanding Educational Outreach Program Award goes to Society of Women Engineers! Congratulations!
Outstanding Multicultural Award
The Outstanding Multicultural Award honors an organization that strives to promote and educate the campus about cultural and ethical awareness. This organization has gone above and beyond their mission and has actively initiated two campaigns in a collaborative effort to raise awareness and unite the UCI community against social inequality faced by the African American community through their Together, We Rise campaign and advocate for racial unity and equity for the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Movement through their Together, We Unite campaign. Through their efforts they were able to raise a total of $14,000 for BLM associated organizations and are continuing to raise money for AAPI associated organizations. This year’s Outstanding Multicultural Award goes to Outreach Clinic at UC Irvine! Congratulations!
Collaborative Program of the Year Award
The Collaborative Program of the Year Award recognizes an organization that has demonstrated an innovative and collaborative partnership with at least one department, off campus entity, or another campus organization. This organization has partnered with Westminster High School and made an outstanding impact on the students preparing them for their first ever Orange County Science Fair, in which 25 students were able to participate and earn honorable mentions, interviews, and categorical awards. Their collaborative effort with Westminster High School has made science more accessible to students who come from a socioeconomically disadvantaged background. This year’s Collaborative Program of the Year Award goes to ReachOut TeachOut at UCI! Congratulations!
Member of the Year Award
The Member of the Year Award recognizes an individual who exhibits willingness to go above and beyond for not only the organization but for its members as well. Despite just joining the beginning of this school year, this individual has dedicated a great amount of time in helping his organization grow and has even played an integral role in his orgs internship team. Through his dedication and growth in his internship, this individual is going to serve as the upcoming Executive Vice President and continues to proactively fulfill his responsibilities. This year’s recipient of the Member of the Year Award goes to William Han from Human Resources Management Association (HRMA)! Congratulations!
Outstanding Membership Retention Award
The Outstanding Membership Retention Award recognizes an organization that has dedicated their time and effort to creating programs to not only consistently keep their members engaged, but also promote positive academic achievement and personal support to all its members. This organization has been able to maintain membership through their various opportunities that provide health and educational services to the underserved communities both locally and abroad. Within their org, members are able to engage and bond with one another through the Big/Little program which has effectively enhanced their membership retention. This year’s Outstanding Membership Retention Award goes to Medical Educational Missions & Outreach (MEMO)! Congratulations!
Outstanding Academic Enhancement Program Award
The Outstanding Academic Enhancement Program Award recognizes an organization that has developed a program that promotes academic enrichment among its members through collaboration with community partners. The winner of this award has provided various hands-on and practical learning experiences for their community members and has effectively hosted events that integrate the knowledge learned in the classroom. Additionally, this org continues to spread computer science knowledge through workshops at ZotHacks and HackUCI and is on their way to hosting a similar workshop at VenusHacks, UCI’s first women-centric hackathon! This year’s Outstanding Academic Enhancement Program winner is Women in Information and Computer Sciences (WICS)! Congratulations!
Outstanding Graphic Design Award
The Outstanding Graphic Design Award recognizes an organization that represented their org through creative, clever, and thoughtful designs that speaks to their organization! This year’s winner created their design as a commemorative exhibition pin for their Fall art show and reimagines the UCI anteater in the style of Keith Haring's iconic dancing figures. This design demonstrates this organization's commitment to artistic creativity and promoting engagement with art history and culture. This year’s winner of the Outstanding Graphic Design Award goes to the Art History Undergraduate Association (AHUA)! Congratulations!
Advisor of the Year Award
The Advisor of the Year Award recognizes a campus org advisor who has significantly contributed to the success of the organization along with its members. They have consistently shown their passion by attending monthly meetings, providing feedback on upcoming events and activities, and expressing pride in the organization's accomplishments. This advisor has provided a tremendous amount of support and guidance through her background in event planning and will make sure to spare time to meet with board officers through her busy schedule. This year’s recipient of the Advisor of the Year award goes to Julie Song from Made with Love! Congratulations!
Outstanding Alumni Engagement Award
The Outstanding Alumni Engagement Award honors an organization who remains connected with UCI Alumni members to provide current members with career knowledge, guidance, and potential opportunities through engaging Alumni members. This organization has worked alongside 6 UCI Alumni members and undergraduate sponsorship coordinators to apply for sponsorships to fund scholarships to underserved students in Vietnam, and they have also raised over $1,400 to Love Across the Ocean to provide relief to those affected by the Vietnam floods. They have not only served the underprivileged, but have also engaged both alumni members and organization members through interactive workshops where alumni members share their professional experiences and give students the opportunity to establish professional connections outside of the workshops. This year’s winner of the Outstanding Alumni Engagement Award goes to Medical, Educational Missions & Outreach (MEMO)! Congratulations!
Outstanding Social Media Engagement Award
The Outstanding Social Media Engagement Award honors an organization that utilizes their social media platforms to engage with their members, provide accessible resources to information, and promotes different opportunities and events creatively. This organization is a fairly new organization who built a strong following with over 1,000 followers, and engages with their audience through comments, posts, direct messages, and posting live Q&As. Through their social media platform, they have shared their skincare knowledge not only with their members but with the community by consistently posting bi-weekly infographics, which contains concise information, product recommendations, and imagery. This year’s Outstanding Social Media Engagement Award goes to We (Skin)Care at UCI! Congratulations!
Most Innovative Virtual Activity Award
The Most Innovative Virtual Activity Award recognizes an organization that embodies its mission and values through creative virtual engagement with its members and the UCI community. This organization initiated a unique virtual Fashion Show on professional attire that not only engaged members through a humorous guessing game but also doubled as an informative activity on examples of business professional outfits in preparation for their upcoming conference. Through this activity this organization was able to uphold their mission on professional development within their members while also retaining the “familia” aspect through engagement with one another. This year’s winner of the Most Innovative Virtual Activity Award goes to the Latino Business Student Association (LBSA)! Congratulations!
Cross-Cultural Center Awards
Partnership in Action Award
The Partnership in Action Award recognizes a faculty/staff member or campus department for being innovative in collaborating with the Cross-Cultural Center on a program offering that serves the campus community in more impactful ways. This collaborative program is original, innovative, and meets a particular need for serving our students in creative and meaningful ways.
Since joining UCI as the Assistant Director of the SOAR Center less than a year ago, Joey Leon has participated in and been supportive of our center's programs. He actively participates in holding space for underrepresented and minoritized students in facilitating conversations on anti-Blackness, wellness and holistic care, and belonging. In fact, he collaborated with our Program Coordinator and co-facilitated a community dialogue on campus belonging and engagement during fall quarter. He was also a guest speaker during one of our student staff meetings and his candid talk on addressing Zoom fatigue and wellness strategies was well-received. In his short time on campus, he has been vocal about the importance of allyship and amplifies Black voices during staff meetings. In maintaining his commitment to creating inclusive spaces, he also facilitated a discussion with SOAR Center student staff to create a statement and social media posts regarding anti-Asian racism and violence.
Faculty Ally of the Year Award
The Faculty Ally of the Year award recognizes a faculty member who has demonstrated a commitment to student development and has gone beyond their teaching and/or administrative role to address and advocate for the needs and concerns of underrepresented students within the UCI community. This individual provides students with opportunities to explore issues regarding diversity, identity development, multicultural education, social justice, and leadership initiatives, which ultimately enhances the retention, matriculation, and success of historically underrepresented students.
Professor Judy Wu, a former recipient of this award, has the honor of being the only recipient to receive this award twice. Under her leadership, the UCI Humanities Center has offered numerous programs and talks that address anti-Blackness and anti-Asian racism and violence during this difficult and unprecedented year. She has thoughtfully organized and created many healing and educational spaces for the campus community to enage in timely and important conversations that uplift marginalized and minoritied voices and communities. Her center's support and co-sponsorship of our center's signature spring program, Deconstruction Zone, played a role in bringing activist Brittany Packnett Cunningham. Professor Wu is always giving of her time to support, hold space for, and mentor students of color, staff, and faculty. She is an avid supporter of our center's programs and a model faculty member who assumes her role as a scholar-practitioner and educator with great care, compassion, and empathy.
Staff Ally of the Year Award
The Staff Ally of the Year award recognizes a staff member who has demonstrated a commitment to student development and has gone beyond their teaching and/or administrative role to address and advocate for the needs and concerns of underrepresented students within the UCI community. Their work enhances the retention, matriculation, and success of historically underrepresented students.
Niobe Duke is an incredible womxn whose talents, compassion, and support for her colleagues and students is commendable. She is an enthusiastic supporter of our center's programs and specifically, has played a key role in supporting our signature programs: Community Roots Festival, Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium, and Deconstruction Zone. She also regularly attends and participates in our small-scale programs and is a colleague we can always count on for her support, expertise, and enthusiasm. Her long list of service activities due to her commitment to creating inclusive spaces for students and dismantling anti-Blackness is extraordinary. Niobe takes on visible and invisible forms of labor to create more inclusive and safe spaces for Black students, staff, and faculty and holds multiple leadership roles within organizations such as the Black Faculty & Staff Association. She is a phenomenal student affairs professional with a big heart and we are excited to recognize her as our Staff Ally of the Year.
Legacy Award
The Legacy Award recognizes a graduating student who, over the course of their years at UCI, has demonstrated remarkable leadership and support for the mission of the Cross-Cultural Center. This student has impacted the quality of student life on campus and served as a model of excellence, commitment, and social activism for others.
Stephanie Iraheta has been involved with the Cross-Cultural Center as a former Summer Multicultural Leadership Institute participant, Student Assistant, and Community Programmer. Her dedication and commitment to fulfilling our center's mission and tagline of building inclusive communities is extraordinary. Her kindness, creativity, and passion for addressing health inequities, mental health needs for BIPOC, supporting members of the undocumented community, and broader racial justice issues is to be celebrated. Not only is she a phenomenal human being, she's a stellar Anteater who has maximized her undergraduate experience. During this unprecedented year, she worked closely with our Associate Director to reimagine all of our center's signature programs; this required an incredible amount of creativity, time, energy, and labor and they delivered! Her impact is far-reaching and extends beyond the campus and we can't wait to see what she does next as a future public health scholar and practitioner.