Red checkered tablecloths, cheery flowers and pesky bugs – being that it’s not the middle of July, an outdoor picnic in Wyoming should be difficult to orchestrate.
The bugs were plastic of course, but the Campus Activities Center did just that, organizing a picnic, complete with classic picnic food like fried chicken, all in celebration of a successful year with the campus RSOs.
Potato salad and beans filled people’s plates along with apple and cherry cobblers. The Office Associate Senior at the Campus Activities Center, Willie Mandeville, said the turnout was a little more than what they expected.
“It was good,” he said, “(but) we ran out of forks.”
Everyone happily ate their picnic feast while the band, Gilmore Gulch Trio, played in the background and pictures of Registered Student Organization (RSO) events streamed.
This happy jam music fit the mood of the event. The Gilmore Gulch Trio band consisted of Mike Angstadt, Jascha Herdt, and Willie Mandeville, all of whom seemed upbeat and lively throughout the performance.
Excited students in the rotating pictures showed what RSOs bring to the campus. Events put on through RSOs allow students to congregate on campus and around the community to hold their events. Some RSOs get together to engage in community service while others just enjoy the company of people with similar interests. Assistant Director of the Campus Activities Center, Jennifer Kirk, believes RSOs can help students get involved and find themselves. Many students appreciate the RSOs for this reason.
The awards given reflected many different types of organizations. Honorary RSOs were acknowledged for dedication and commitment to their organization. Spectrum, Associated Students Interested in China, Active Minds and the Wyoming Swing Club were all awarded a $50 gift card to Papa Johns.
Advisors also work hard to maintain RSOs on campus. Shawna McBride, for Women in Math, Science, and Engineering (WiMSE) and Aaron Lozano, for Real Women, Real Bodies (RWRB) and the Student Veteran’s Organization were both recognized as Outstanding Advisors and awarded $50 to the campus bookstore.
Many new RSOs work to become active on campus each year. The Campus Activities Center acknowledged the best new student organization this year for being highly active and maintaining diverse programming due to the continuous hard work shown. The RSO Abilities won the $75 Papa John’s gift card, by committing impressively to their mission statement.
“Abilities is an organization for students with disabilities and their allies to celebrate and promote disability awareness on the UW campus, as well as educate and advocate for rights and access,” reads the mission statement. “The purpose of Abilities is to create an accepting community amongst students to appreciate abilities and diversity of UW.”
Also, the Student Art League received the award for Best Poster. They were given a $75 gift card to Papa John’s.
The last three awards acknowledged RSOs for their involvement in the community and their support to other RSOs. The Teamwork award of $250 was given to the Wyoming African Student’s Association (WASA) along with the Community Service award of $215 to the Rotaract club. The biggest sum of $500 was given for the Vice President of Student Affairs Outstanding RSO award to the International Studies Student Club.
All awards reflected a dedication and commitment to maintaining the organizations, an important aspect to the purpose of RSOs. As an integral part of campus life, RSOs not only provide awareness and promote events, but also help get students around campus involved in the university further.
“It’s great to be able to find like-minded individuals,” Kirk said.
