By Lucia Sacerdoti
TAMPA, Fla. 一 The Leadership Awards Night is held every April. The University of Tampa organizes the Leadership Awards Night to honor students, student organizations, faculty, and staff who have shown effort and excellence in their roles at the university and to celebrate their accomplishments.
One category is the Student Individual Awards Application, where Spartan Leaders made a difference through their involvement in leadership roles and have impacted UTampa on and off campus. These are students who could have participated in internships, on-campus involvement, or even research in a class.
Another category is the Registered Student Organization Awards Application, where a Registered Student Organization (RSO) on campus made a positive contribution to the UTampa community, where these organizations are recognized for their motivation, commitment, and Spartan Spirit.
Other categories are represented, such as the Sustainability and Civic Engagement Awards, where not only students can be nominated but also faculty and staff members for their beyond commitment to sustainability on campus and in the greater Tampa Bay community.
Some awards are specific for faculty and staff, such as the Hero Award, Advisor of the Year, and even Volunteer of the Year. These are for students to nominate them or for other faculty members to nominate them to show their support for how this faculty and staff member went out and beyond to support their students and student organizations.
Tess Aguilar, one of the committee organizers, talked about how the event will run.
“Doors open at 5 p.m., on the ninth floor of the Vaughn Center,” said Aguilar. “There are appetizers and a couple [of] beverages available for attendees in the conference room and that will flow into the event space.”
Aguilar has been planning these events since October of 2022.
“We received a total of 135 individual awards applications and 43 applications for student organization awards. A combination of 17 nominations different from applications,” said Aguilar. “People can self-nominate but can also be nominated by others for sustainability awards where there’s three awards one for a few organizations, one for faculty and staff, and one for students for sustainable efforts.”
“All of those descriptions can be found in the Leadership Awards Night guidebook and those awards are determined by the faculty sustainability committee and then we had a total of 28 nominations for the three awards for faculty and staff members,” said Aguilar.
Aguilar is very excited about the upcoming event.
“I look forward to seeing how excited all of the attendees get to receive their words,” said Aguilar. “I love seeing them all be able to be recognized [and] be celebrated. To know that they are appreciated.”
Students, staff, and faculty will have the opportunity to showcase their trophies and the event and get a picture taken with them.
“I love just being able to like see how happy they are as I have that personal touch point while I box their trophy for them and it’s just a really beautiful thing to see the impact that that makes them be recognized,” Aguilar said. “This is a great opportunity for those Spartans to show their pride for their organizations and involvement through school, and it will be remembered.”
This event will be held April 28, on the Vaughn ninth floor starting at 5 p.m. Everyone is welcome.
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Photo courtesy of Leadership Awards Night 2025 Guidebook.