One of the best parts of being at University is the opportunity for students to engage in activities outside the usual academic setting. With the click of a button, any enrolled UniSA student can join one of the 91 existing USASA Clubs in an instant. From the Nursing and Midwifery Club to the Showpony Club, there is something for everyone out there –and if you are really motivated, you can even create your own club!
Last October nearly one hundred students descended on The Lion Hotel to attend the USASA Club Awards Night to recognize the great work achieved by clubs in 2018.
With an open bar and bangers belting out of the speakers, the mood was set for a lively evening. It was also a terrific opportunity for students from different clubs who mightn’t otherwise get a chance to meet, to mingle alongside one another. Students who had been strangers before the night, ended up just hours later dancing the Nutbush together. Fortunately for the innocent, despite artist Daddy Cool also featuring on the playlist, there was no traditional ‘Eagle Rock dancing’.
Any individual could nominate any person or club for an award and overall nine awards were given out to clubs and individuals, from a total of 44 nominations. With the exception of the People’s Choice Award, the winners and honourable mentions were all determined by the USASA Clubs Committee, which is made up of several students as well as USASA staff.
The big winner on the night was UniSA Rainbow Club President Natrydð Sigurthur who took home the Club Executive of the Year for their hard work and commitment to the club. In addition to this, the UniSA Rainbow Club also took out the Club of the Year award.
“Being awarded Club of the Year showed that the Rainbow Club’s goal of improving student culture at UniSA is not only successful, but also valued. Personally, the Club Executive of the Year award was an honour to accept. My dedication to Clubs is what keeps me going beyond my studies. There’s still much to achieve, and this is just the beginning.”
Natrydð Sigurthur, UniSA Rainbow Club
Among the reasons cited for the award, were the club’s engagement with students, numerous successful events, and its continued active and ever-reliable presence at events such as Campus Fair.
Another club to take home an award on the night was Oxfam on Campus UniSA, determined by the Clubs Committee to have hosted the best event in 2018. The event that took out the award was ‘OxFAM Meets Culture!’, which coordinated the Chinese, Indian, Afghani, African, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Sustainability, and Photography clubs to present a vast array of food and activities on June 12 at City East.
“It felt rewarding and most of all we are so happy that our event won and we can’t thank enough all the clubs that were part of this massive event!”
James Avellanoza, Oxfamon Campus UniSA
At each club awards night, several clubs often receive a miscellaneous award which changes each year. The 2018 edition featured the Phoenix Award, a miscellaneous award acknowledging the club that ‘rose from the ashes’ to transform from a struggling club into a successful one. The winner of this award was the UniSA Psychology Society, which went from being mostly dormant in 2017 to hosting numerous events in 2018, including a tri-school quiz night also involving students from both Flinders University and Adelaide University.
“We started with three committee members but now we have 16. Together we make better decisions and organize fantastic events.”
Cherry Li, UniSA Psychology Club
Overall the event went down as a success with will return again in 2019!
The full list of winners can be seen here:
Club of the Year: UniSA Rainbow Club
New Club of the Year: UniSA Art Club
Club Executive of the Year: Natrydð Sigurthur
Club Event of the Year: Oxfam on Campus UniSA
Janet Henrie Golden Calculator Award: UniSA Physiotherapy Student Society
Club Merch Award: UniSA Contemporary Arts
Best Marketing Campaign: Illustration and Animation Grad Show
People’s Choice Award: UniSA Society of Engineers
Phoenix Award: UniSA Psychology Society
To learn more about USASA Clubs go to: https://usasa.sa.edu.au/clubs
Words by Ryan Colsey.
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