Student Affairs staff celebrates 2018 at annual Winter Social

An entire division’s worth of employees descended on the ballrooms inside Hendrix Student Center to celebrate the past year at the annual Student Affairs Winter Social on Thursday. Following a catered breakfast courtesy of Aramark, Vice President Almeda Jacks led a short program that began with the recognizing of the top employees and team of the past year within Student Affairs and ended with a fun holiday fashion show.

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Employees earning the top recognition within the division for 2018 were Major Anderson (University Housing & Dining), Edward Burton (University Housing & Dining), Lt. Chris Harrington (Clemson University Police Department), Tina LeMay (Student Affairs Publications) and Kate Radford (Student Involvement and Leadership). The Student Affairs Team of the Year was awarded to the custodial team in the Shoeboxes and Stadium Suites, led by supervisor Edith Ann Williams.

• Anderson is a trades specialist within the University Housing and Dining maintenance team known to colleagues as someone “upbeat and positive no matter the situation.”
• Burton is a grounds specialist in Bryan Mall, keeping the area better known as Clemson’s “horseshoe” in impeccable condition.
• Harrington has been a key cog with CUPD’s hiring and selection, developing training programs for both internal and external groups, technology implementation and gameday operations.
• LeMay is the division’s creative director, and her team has been lauded consistently in 2018 with a number of prestigious awards for print and digital design.
• Radford developed Tiger Connect and the Certified Student Leader programs this past year, adding to already extensive efforts in student leadership and community engagement efforts.

Jacks noted while only five individuals and one team were honored, many more staff could have just as easily been recognized for their efforts.

“I promise you we could have awarded 100 staff or more from our division,” she told the capacity crowd. “Congratulations to all of you and thank you for the work you do for Clemson.”

Following the individual recognitions, the crowd was treated to some light-hearted fun when several members of the Student Affairs team took part in the ladies’ holiday fashion show. Lisa Bona (Student Affairs Business Office), Jami Brothers (Business Continuity and Security Planning), Kryssa Cooper (Sponsorships), Shirley Hagood (University Housing and Dining), Glynis Hance (University Housing and Dining), Mandy Hays (Campus Life), Kimberly Poole (Advocacy and Success) and Theresa Singletary (CUPD) modeled all the latest holiday clothing, much to the delight of those in attendance.

Harrington, a veteran of 13 years with CUPD, acknowledged the Winter Social is one of his favorite events each and every year.

“While this is our profession, it’s very much a personal connection everyone has together in Student Affairs,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity to get together and fellowship. It gives us all an opportunity to wrap up the year and get ready to start a new one.”