The Union Programming Council held its second annual “Props to U” event last Thursday-and for the second consecutive time, a scant audience composed of a few nominees and their friends gathered in the Union Ballroom for a highly publicized gala, complete with acceptance speeches and trophies that was reminiscent of a high-school yearbook “Most likely to?” contest.
UPC should be lauded for its effort to acknowledge students, faculty and staff on campus for their diligent efforts to improve the U, but this awards ceremony is unrepresentative of the true U community.
Although the programming council seeks student input in written form during the nomination process, it is the UPC House and Operations Board that actually selects the winners based on the entries they receive. This process leaves nothing by which board members can select winners, aside from the written words of students-students who may simply vote for their friends, thereby transforming Props to U into a popularity contest.
This logic leads to a “Best Athlete” list of finalists consisting of Ute women’s basketball star Kim Smith; a sophomore wide receiver who, in the entirety of the 2005 season, caught nine passes for 150 yards; and a young man who was listed on no athletic rosters at the U-all of whom lost to a swim recruit who mustered second-team all conference honors while two of his teammates made first-team and broke school records.
Looking inward at this office, The Chronicle’s list of “Writer of the Year” finalists included a part-time reporter who wrote fewer than two individually bylined basic, albeit decent, articles per month while several full-time writers who went unrecognized dove deep into assigned beats and followed issue stories that carried much broader implications for the campus.
Another attribute that damages the credibility of this awards celebration is the inclusion of trivial categories such as “Best Dressed.” Such a shallow award adds to an already confusing tone in a ceremony that shifts from a humble, sincere, grateful faculty winner speaking of efforts to cut down on worldwide AIDS outbreaks to a student attributing a best-dressed award to a good friend for always going shopping with her.
UPC’s efforts in the Props to U ceremony should not go unnoticed, and the board’s members have the best interest of campus in mind as they try to establish some sort of campus-community mentality through these awards. However, the means that take them to this end must be re-examined if the Props to U awards are intended to be taken seriously by anyone on campus.
Perhaps in the future, all students could see a list of finalists in advance and vote on the nominees to ensure a more broadly accepted, all-inclusive democratic process that leads to veritable victors rather than trendy titleholders.