The SALPies are near final

Each year, Student Activities and Leadership Programs hosts its SALPies awards ceremony to honor the hard work of student groups and their leaders. Though nominations are still being accepted, the deadline is this Friday.

“[The SALPies] have been a tradition of SALP for many years,” said Christian Aniciete, SALP’s events coordinator and a senior in business marketing and advertising.

According to Aniciete, the SALPies have been given out since at least the 2001–02 school year.

In addition, Aniciete said that the SALPies, which include live talent performances and novelty awards such as “Best Dressed,” are “a fun sort of way for [SALP] to end the year.”

“We invite both outgoing and incoming head officers to introduce themselves and co-present awards at the event,” he said. “This year, invitations have been sent out to outgoing and incoming officers of the Vanguard, the Student Fee Committee and ASPSU.”

Nominations have been open since February, and as of May 7, SALP had received over 30 nominations, according to Aniciete.

“We definitely anticipate more to come,” he said.

Rather than grant awards based on the number of nominations a group or individual receives, the SALPies Academy—a group of students and staff from various departments across campus—chooses recipients based on the “thought behind a nomination,” Aniciete said.

SALP has established criteria for each SALPies award, and nominations must include a brief explanation of how the nominee has fulfilled or exceeded the criteria of a given award, according to Aniciete.

For instance, nominees for awards like “Student Leader of the Year” must have made a positive contribution to the university community, inspired others to succeed and successfully balanced student organization and academic responsibilities by maintaining a GPA of 3.5 or higher, according to the SALPies nomination form. 

Each year, SALP grants awards for “Student Leader of the Year,” “Group of the Year,” “New Group of the Year” and “Event of the Year.” Awards for “Outstanding Student Organization Website” and “Outstanding Marketing Campaign” tend to come and go depending upon the climate of the year, Aniciete said.

This year, SALP invites nominations for “Future President of the United States,” “Best Dressed,” “Most Inspirational,” “Greenest,” “Most School Spirit” and “Best Groundbreaking Advocacy,” among other categories, according to the nomination form. 

Last year, the names of award recipients were engraved on individual plaques, so that recipients “really understand the honor that they’re receiving,” Aniciete said.

The ceremony lasts approximately one hour, during which time three or four performances take place.

Commenting on this year’s performances, Aniciete said, “There are some pretty special performances.”

Last year a group of staff and students, including Aniciete and SALP director Aimee Shattuck, performed a dance to “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire and Pitbull’s “You Know You Want Me,” Aniciete said.

The SALPies ceremony will take place on Wednesday, June 2, at 7:30 p.m. in the Smith Memorial Student Union Ballroom.

SALP’s Midnight Breakfast will follow the awards ceremony, running from 9 p.m. until midnight.

“It’s always been a tradition to have both events on the same day because it’s dead week,” Aniciete said. 

According to Aniciete, the theme of this spring’s Midnight Breakfast, “A Red Carpet Affair,” suits the awards ceremony particularly well as the SALPies are not unlike the Oscars.

“We really encourage those who attend the SALPies to attend Midnight Breakfast,” he said.

For those interested in nominating a group or individual for this year’s SALPies, a nomination form can be filled online at www.orgsync.com/forms/show/18480.

Groups and individuals can also apply to perform during this year’s SALPies at www.orgsync.com/forms/show/18484.