4 from UNL named national Wasson Award winners

            Four University of Nebraska-Lincoln students and recent graduates received William N. Wasson Student Leadership and Academic Awards presented by the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association during the organization’s national conference March 4-7 in Las Vegas.

            The award is named after the association's founder, William N. Wasson, and is given to 24 undergraduate and 12 graduate students nationwide each year. It recognizes outstanding undergraduate and graduate students who are active participants, employees or volunteers in collegiate recreational sports departments. Criteria for the award includes self-improvement through leadership, academic success, activities, volunteerism, and promoting inclusion.

            UNL is the only higher-ed institution in the nation to have at least one Wasson Award winner each year since the award's inception in 1993 and also leads the nation in total recipients with 63 awards.

            This year's recipients include:

• Angela Wickard, senior hospitality, restaurant and tourism management major from Bridgeport
• Guillermo Mejia, a December graduate in political science from Kansas City, Mo.
• Tim Kinoshita, a December 2012 graduate in biological systems engineering from Chappell
• Frances Schoonveld, a marketing, communications and advertising master's degree graduate student from Lincoln

            The National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association is the leading resource for professional and student development, education and research in collegiate recreational sports. Headquartered in Corvallis, Ore., it was established in 1950 at a meeting at Dillard University of 22 African-American men and women from 11 historically black colleges and universities. NIRSA now includes more than 4,000 highly trained professional, student and associate members throughout the United States, Canada and other countries, serving an estimated 5.5 million students who regularly participate in campus recreational sports programs. For additional information, visit http://www.nirsa.org.

Writer: Christopher Dulak