This is a chance for special recognition. After nominations are submitted, the President’s Leadership Fellows (PLF), a group of roughly 100 student leaders, choose anonymously between the unknown nominees.
SLOM is not just an impressive resume booster, but the winner receives a letter from President Vaughn, an award certificate and the choice to have lunch at Panache with either the Dean of Students or the dean of their college of study.
For the month of February, the SLOM winner was Moises Benhabib. Benhabib is a junior studying government and world affairs with a history minor. He wants to use this to become a Naval Intelligence Officer, a Naval JAG Corps lawyer, a lawyer or working for a consulting firm. He was nominated for SLOM due to his involvement with the on-campus organization DRIVE (Dynamically Revolutionizing Vehicle Education) UT.
According to the UT Organizations website, DRIVE UT is “A foundation for bringing local vehicle enthusiasts together.” The members have varying experience with cars ranging from basic maintenance to more advanced mechanics and knowledge of vehicles, but membership is open to all UT students.
As president of DRIVE UT, Benhabib told The Minaret that DRIVE UT began three semesters previous to this one and he joined in his sophomore year.
Very handy with fixing cars, Benhabib says he has a passion for them. “My father has worked for Chevrolet for over 30 years,” he said, “so you could say I was born with a wrench.”
Not only does he show his skills during his DRIVE UT meetings, but Benhabib also does simple fixes to people’s cars on campus.
This year, Benhabib revved the engines of charitable hearts through an organized and sponsored Toys for Tots drive on campus.
According to the official U.S. Marine Corps. Toys for Tots website, the mission of this program is “to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.” They have donation drives all around the country and also accept donations via their website. Why Toys for Tots? “I have a passion for helping out military organizations so Toys for Tots was a natural fit,” said Benhabib.
To collect the toys, instead of tabling in Vaughn or setting up donation sites around campus, Benhabib came up with an original idea: DRIVE UT hosted a car show on campus.
The car show took place on Dec. 10 last year and consisted of about 100 entries. By donating an unwrapped toy for the benefit, anyone could enter the car show. Strolling by the West Parking Garage that day, students may have seen that the fifth and sixth floors were filled with tricked out cars and motorcycles.
DRIVE UT was not the only participant. According to a preview article found on the UT website, a host of vendors and groups such as USF Car Meets, Euro Cycle of Tampa Bay, and other groups participated in giving back to the community.
There was a little bit of everything from exotic cars such as Ferraris to Honda Civics to motorcycles. There were awards given to those entered into the categories such as Loudest Exhaust, Best Motorcycle in Show and American Muscle. Benhabib confirms that this has been set up to be an annual event.
Know of a student like Benhabib who fulfills their leadership position and goes above and beyond the call of duty? Whether it is a well established organization on campus, Greek Life, or a new organization, if this student has made a positive contribution to the community, nominate them for Student Leader of the Month. For applications and more information, go to OSLE.
The applications are available the first of each month and are due the last Friday of each month. For the month of March, applications are now available and are due March 30. Any questions, comments, or concerns, please visit OSLE in the Vaughn Center in room 210 or e-mail them at studentengagement@ut.edu.
Laurel Sanchez can be reached at lsanchez@spartans.ut.edu.