Congratulations to past Spotlight on Student Organization Winners!

September 2009:  The Higher Education Student Association (HESA)

HESA has been guided by a new and extremely enthusiastic executive board for the 2009-2010 academic year. The board has shown their dedication to providing quality professional and social activities to not just the Higher Education Administration (HEA) graduate students but to the general graduate student population. The board initiated a mentor program to connect new HEA students with returning students in an effort to help in their transition to graduate school. HESA has planned a variety of programs including the GSEHD Dean's BBQ, an APA workshop, a Meet the Leaders Speaker Series with an aspiring professor from Michigan State University, and most recently secured a one day conference with a national professional organization, ACPA. The Higher Education Student Association has gone above and beyond in the effort to enrich the year with great programs for graduate students.

April 2009: The South Asian Society's dedication to hosting Bhangra Blowout despite limitations of resources is reason to honor SAS as a Spotlight Organization. Students work diligently to plan, fundraise, book acts, and execute this large scale weekend of events alongside of their advisor, staff, and numerous vendors. The GW Sout Asian Society has not only created a dynamic tradition for its campus community, but also for many students at various universities and colleges across the East Coast.

March 2009: The month of March was kicked off with an awesome event put on by the Iranian Cultural Society. "Norooz," the Iranian new year celebration, was held on Saturday, March 7th in the Grand Ballroom. ICS reached out to a diverse group of people in order to ensure that the over 250 attendees were from all walks of life, including people representing a wide range of ages, cultural backgrounds, regional backgrounds, and schools. The program included background information about "Norooz" and a variety of cultural performances such as a comedian, dances, and musical performances. Afterwards, the audience was treated to traditional Iranian food and chance to fellowship with each other. ICS worked very closely and communicated regularly with their event planner and SAC advisor throughout the planning process to ensure a smooth event.

January/February 2009:  Throughout the academic year, the Philippine Cultural Society (PCS) has consistently planned and executed events geared towards exposing the GW community to the intricate details of the Philippine culture. Their successful events have ranged from free exhibits in the Great Hall to the Mr. & Ms. Asia GW talent show. They continue to set a good example for other student organizations to model themselves after due to their attention to detail and ability to communicate effectively with their SAC Advisor and Marvin Center staff.

December 2008/January 2009:  Students for Global Aids Campaign organized an excellent week of events for Aids Awareness week. SGAC successfully fundraised to cover costs for events and the sponsoring of the Aids quilt in Great Hall. SGAC was very organized, professional, driven, and had a large following of students, leadership, and involvement.

November 2008:  The GW Vets is an organization that looks to support veterans and their issues within the GW community. The organization formed and began running this past September and has been on a rapid pace towards being one of the most active organizations on campus. Thus far this fall they have hosted two large events, the first being “Ask a Vet” where they answered questions from the audience about life in and outside of war. The second large event was a Memorial Day BBQ and fair on Kogan Plaza. The event drew hundreds and truly put the GW vets in the spotlight with speakers, food, fundraisers and more. Advisors and event planners a like commend how easy it is to work with all the members of GW Vets. They are on top of all tasks and respond rapidly to all questions about there group and events. The group has also worked towards advocating for the need to have a Veterans Affairs position at GW and was able to get a graduate position created and slotted to begin in the spring semester. This new position will be a university employee that will work specifically towards meeting the needs of both graduate and undergraduate Veterans at GW. For all of the above reasons I believe that GW Vets should be awarded the SAC spotlight award for November. The group is hard working, meeting there mission, and has very high potential for becoming a well known and active organization on campus.

October 2008:  GW Circle K was nominated for their “Sixth Sense” initiative to raise money for clean drinking water to be distributed in impoverished communities and countries.  Created water droplet stencil pledge cards and displayed in Academic Center.  GW Circle K’s goal was to raise $178, they surpassed fundraising initiatives by collecting over $500 in donations.

September 2008:  Multicultural Greek Council collaborated to organize and facilitate events celebrating cultural diversity and educating the GW community about different issues affecting students in today's society. The amount of dedication and work ethic that the Multicultural Greek Council put into the week was fully reflected in the success of each event. Every night, the event garnered a packed audience comprising of different cultures that greatly contributed to the wealth of knowledge that was presented at the educational forums and to the formation of many relationships that would not have happened. The success of MGC Week has gained the attention from university administrators and student publications.

April/May 2008:  GW South Asian Society is spotlighted for their excellence in representing the rich culture of South Asia through their sponsorship of Bhangra Blowout.  This event culminates a weekend full of programming that takes a year of planning and the coordination of the efforts of over 30 e-board members.  Through fundraising efforts the South Asian Society raised over $30K from sponsors such as McDonalds and Hilton Hotels.

January/February 2008: Allied in Pride for excelling in areas of outreach, overcoming challenges, and meeting their mission.  Allied in Pride’s mission is “to encourage social and political activities among LGBTQ students and their allies, and to provide peer support for those LGBTQ students who need it.”  The Marriage Equality Week hosted by Allied in Pride (AIP) exemplifies how they put their mission into practice. 

November/December 2007: Alpha Phi Omega for their work within the GW and Washington, DC communities.Throughout the months of November/December, the group has excelled in areas of outreach and community service through extensive efforts to make themselves widely known at GW and to build relationships with other student organizations as well as extensive service efforts in the DC community.

October 2007:  Asian Student Alliance (ASA) for their Night Market event. ASA strives to form collaborations with other campus groups for the purpose of strengthening the Asian Pacific American identity and ethnic diversity of GW. Through the planning of Night Market, ASA worked tirelessly to create, coordinate and execute a flawless event highlighting different cultures and by showcasing cultural acts, performers and authentic Asian cuisine. 

September 2007:  Colonial Donors for their creative solutions in planning their annual fall blood drive. Compared to other schools across the nation, GW students have an unusually low iron count. In order to produce donors with strong iron, the Colonial Donors threw an "Iron Party" a week before the blood drive, at which iron-rich foods were served, nutritional and donor eligibility information was handed out as well as blood drive promotional information. Their creative solutions, and intelligent planning are a great example to others!

April 2007: The Organization of Latino American Students (OLAS) for their Noche de Cultura event. By offering this cultural event to the campus, students and all who joined experienced a unique event that reflected the positive work done by members of OLAS.  OLAS is an organization that promotes Latino culture to the GW community through activities for people of all races and ethnicities.

March 2007:  The Russian Bazaar for their organization of the Slavic Spring Festival that celebrated the culture of Belarus, Bosnia, Bulgaria and Herzgovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Ukraine with authentic ethnic foods and traditional dances for each representative country.

January 2007:  Muslim Student Association (MSA) for their spirit of collaboration regarding Islamic Awareness Week with other student organizations on campus including the College Democrats and College Republicans. 

December 2006: Balance:The GW Ballet Group for their excellent and highly attended performance of the Nutcracker at Mount Vernon.

November 2006:  Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity for their efforts to bring Ludacris to campus as part of an effort with YouthAIDS to raise awareness and raise funds to fight AIDS/HIV in young people around the world. 

October 2006:  Sigma Chi for their strong participation in the structured Rush process within the IFC and their philanthropic contributions during Greek Week such as raising nearly $2,000 (out of a total of $12,000) for UNICEF even though their colony has only been in existence since March of 2006.

September 2006:  GW Transfers for their participation in Colonial Inauguration and their continued work to make the transition to GW easier for transfer students.

December 2005: Phillipine Cultural Society has hosted great programming this year which include a culture day, historical timelines, candlelight vigils, free language and martial arts classes,  and much more!

November 2005: Colonial Army for their amazing participation in GW Basketball spirit

October 2005: The Out Crowd for programming a week of events titled “Pride Week.”  The week coincided with the “National Coming Out Day.”  The Out Crowd coordinated the following:  a concert in the Hippodrome, “Safe Sex in Kogan”, a LGBT Politician Panel and a Diva Ball in the MC Grand Ballroom.  They also co-sponsored a number of events, including:  a LGBTA Leadership and Career Fair, Film Screening in the Marvin Center, Guest Speaker Dylan Scholinski, and a Reel Affirmations Film Festival in Lincoln Theatre.

September 2005: Tau Kappa Epsilon for raising over $1,500 for hurricane relief, for their full chapter retreat to plan their year, for their attention to risk management values and for their participation in IFC Rush activities.

April 2005: Buzzing for Change had over 160 students shaving their heads and 42 donating hair for locks for love this event raised over $18,000 for a camp for kids dealing with cancer.