Eagle Awards
To submit a nomination, click here. Nominations will be accepted through Friday, March 15 (nominations for the Grace Mann Launch Award are due Monday, March 11).
Individual Awards
Service/Social Justice:
Leader in Service: This award recognizes a freshman, sophomore, or junior who has demonstrated exceptional commitment to community service, either locally, regionally, nationally, or globally. The student must have demonstrated outstanding initiative in planning, organizing, and executing community service activities, while also demonstrating the ability to cooperate with other organizations, either on or off campus.
Elizabeth M. Baumgarten Service Award: Elizabeth “Liz” Baumgarten Heagy was committed to service as a student here at UMW and helped found Community Outreach and Resources (COAR). This award is given to a graduating senior for outstanding service to the university and community.
Grace Mann Launch Award: The Grace Mann Launch award is given to a graduating senior who is active while at UMW in organizations that promote social justice and equality, social change and/or advocates for victims of sexual assault or prejudice, and who exemplifies a commitment to improving the lives of others through the change of attitudes, behaviors, laws, policies, or institutions; and who is planning to pursue a career in support of those goals and promote equality and/or advocate for victims.
James Farmer Defining A Legacy Award: The late Dr. James Leonard Farmer was born on January 12th, 1920 in Texas. His first remembered experience of racial discrimination was when he was 3 ½ years old, when he asked his mom to buy a Coca-Cola, she told him they could not go in the store because they were “colored.” He was brilliant and well-spoken, enrolling at Wiley College at the age of 14.
Dr. Farmer dedicated his life to Civil Rights activism and was the founder of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in 1942 after graduating from Howard University. In 1961, Farmer tested the integration of buses and bus terminals with his infamous Freedom Rides project. He was then determined as one of the Civil Rights’ ‘big six,’ which includes Martin Luther King Jr., Representative John Lewis, Dorothy Height, Whitney Young, and Roy Wilkins.
Farmer asserted before his passing that the issue of inclusion and equality for black Americans is even harder in a contemporary setting, it is for this reason we reflect on his legacy. The Civil Rights Movement in American memory shows the stratification of the movement into two parts, “between South and North, nonviolence and Black Power militancy, de facto and de jure segregation, and the movement before 1965 and after.” Dr. James Farmer complicated this idea, however, by challenging this expectation by straddling ideas and reassessing his positions over time. This award is awarded to a student, staff, or faculty member who creates a direct action project, overcomes a substantial obstacle, challenges an oppressive system, and spreads their cause.
Leadership
Alex Naden Award: Alex Naden was a senior class officer who graduated from Mary Washington College in 2003. He was a member of the Rugby team, Giant, and worked in the Underground. But to list Alex’s accomplishments and believe that they convey him is to do him a disservice. What made Alex so special was who he was, not what he did. He made every person he spoke with feel special. He was authentic, he was funny, he was warm and caring, he was an amazing communicator and he always had a smile on his face and a ton of energy committed to everything he did. He lost his life in April 2003 as a result of a car accident. In his honor, we present this award to those who best embody the character that Alex so willingly and exceptionally personified. (This award may be awarded to a student of any class not just seniors).
Prince Woodard Emerging Leader Award: This award is for individuals who have stepped up and taken on leading roles in their organization. It is limited to freshmen, sophomores, and juniors only. Eligibility is not limited to titled positions. Nominees for this award can be from SGA, another governance body (ex. Honor Council, Student Conduct Review Board), or any club or student organization. Students have to show tremendous leadership capacity or ability in their organization. Examples include helping to plan successful programming or events that benefited the club, organization, or campus as a whole. The student must maintain a 3.25 GPA or higher to be eligible for this award. The winner will receive a monetary award.
Prince Woodard Outstanding Leader Award: This is awarded to a graduating senior belonging to any campus organization who has demonstrated outstanding leadership skills while involved in the organization. Nominees for this award can be from any campus club or organization and did need to have held a formal leadership position. The member has been instrumental in helping the organization work towards its mission as well as help plan and conduct successful programming. This is the highest leadership award and therefore the individual’s contribution must have been exceptional to be considered. The student must maintain a 3.25 GPA or higher to be eligible for this award. The winner will receive a monetary award.
Unsung Hero: This award recognizes a student whose actions positively impacted their club, organization or the university while a member, but not serving in a formal leadership position. This award focuses on students who took the initiative throughout the year to help their club or group achieve their goals from behind the scenes. This award can be given to any student, reglardless of class year.
Cedric Rucker Eagle Beyond Compare: This award will be given to an outstanding member of our UMW community–to any student, staff, or faculty member–who exemplifies the values and ideals that our community holds most sacred. Prior to his retirement, Dean Cedric Rucker was the epitome of the Mary Washington spirit with dedication to living authentically, to the fierce pursuit of knowledge, and to move through the world with integrity and with the spirit of goodwill to all.
Awards Determined by the Alumni Association
Alumni Association Award for Outstanding Senior: This is awarded to a senior who has demonstrated an outstanding combination of academic excellence, leadership, and service to Mary Washington. (The awardee is selected by a separate committee after eligible students are offered the opportunity to apply by the Alumni Office. This includes students in the top 10% of their class based on GPA.)
Alumni Association Service Award for Outstanding Senior Dedicated to Community Service: This is awarded to a senior who has demonstrated academic excellence, leadership, and service to Mary Washington and the Fredericksburg community. (The awardee is selected by a separate committee after eligible students are offered the opportunity to apply by the Alumni Office. This includes students in the top 10% of their class based on GPA.)
Bachelor of Liberal Studies (BLS) Award: This award recognizes a student enrolled in the BLS program for academic excellence as well as outstanding citizenship. (The awardee is selected by a separate committee after eligible students are offered the opportunity to apply by the Alumni Office. This includes BLS Degree candidates who have at least 30 credit hours at UMW and at least a 3.2 GPA.)
Program Awards
Outstanding Diversity Program: This award recognizes an event put on by a club or organization that takes the lead in educating the campus community on issues related to diversity. This includes but is not limited to issues pertaining to women, racial/cultural issues, religion, gender and sexuality. The program should be unique, creative, marketed effectively, and successful in terms of its impact to the campus community beyond the organization’s own members.
The Clara Boyd Wheeler Outstanding Community Service Program: This award recognizes an organization’s involvement in a philanthropic activity or event that positively affects a targeted cause either locally or globally. The specific program may be held on or off campus and should relate to the organization’s mission. It is preferred that the activity had a notable impact on the organization and its members that continued throughout the year.
Outstanding Educational Program: This award recognizes an educational program that was successful in educating the campus community on a topic related to the organization’s mission in a creative and appealing way, and impacting the campus community beyond the organization’s own members.
Outstanding Annual Program: This award looks to recognize an annual program or event that has been going on for at least two years. This program should have a positive impact on the campus community, whether it is educational and/or community-building in nature. Ideally this program has become recognizable on campus, one that students look forward to each year.
***This award will be a Student’s Choice Award, selected by a campus-wide student vote! Once nominations have been submitted, keep an eye on your email and social media for the opportunity to vote.
Outstanding New Program: This award looks to recognize a new program or event that has taken place for the first time within this academic year. It recognizes success in both quality (including the type of program and topic/theme) and quantity (attendance). The program should be unique, creative, marketed effectively, and successful in terms of its impact to the campus community beyond the organization’s own members. This program could have been recurring or a one-time event and ideally filled a gap in programming needs on campus.
Organizations Awards
Outstanding New Club: This award is only open to student organizations who have been recognized for no more than two academic years, but have been able to quickly build membership and become a known presence and have a positive impact on campus through its successful marketing, activities and programs. It recognizes success in both quality and quantity of activities, as well as establishing relationships with other organizations and departments. This award is open to all clubs and organizations including sports clubs.
NOTE: The previous year’s award recipient is not eligible for this year.
Outstanding Overall Achievement for a Club or Organization: This award recognizes an organization for following its mission, achieving its objectives successfully and making an impact on campus throughout the academic year. The organization has stayed active through effective marketing and publicity of meetings and events, sponsoring a variety of successful programs, sustaining an active membership, and maintaining positive relationships with other organizations and departments. Actions of the organization and its members should exceed expectations.
Faculty/Staff Award
Gwen Hale Giving Tree Award Any current faculty or staff member who is actively involved with the student body of the University of Mary Washington is eligible for this award. The faculty or staff member must be nominated by a student currently enrolled at the University of Mary Washington. The faculty/staff member’s role can be, but is not limited to, an advisor to a student organization, a mentor to students, a speaker, or participant in a student organization program. In 2022, the Eagle Awards Committee renamed the Giving Tree Award in honor of Dr. Gwen Hale who passed away in October 2021. Dr. Hale continues to touch the lives of our students and always showed her dedication to enhancing the quality of student life at UMW, served as a role-model for students AND a resource for the UMW community, and was a dedicated advocate for students.
NOTE: While a faculty/staff member can be nominated every year, they can only receive the award once every four years.
CRITERIA: Nominees of the Gwen Hale Giving Tree Award will be evaluated on the following criteria – all faculty and staff members must:
- Show dedication to enhancing the quality of student life at UMW;
- Enhance the support and growth of students and/or student organizations at UMW;
- Serve as a role-model for students and a resource for the UMW community;
- Actively participate in student events;
- Act ethically and with integrity;
- Serve as an advocate for the students; and,
- Provide a new and significant contribution to the UMW community that has not previously existed.