Awards honor students, staff

By Michelle Esposito

Several NIU students and staff walked away Friday with honors at the fifth-annual Golden Image Awards.

John Quilico, Alpha Phi Alpha publicity chairman, said the purpose of these awards was to pay tribute to those who have strived for excellence and leadership. Alpha Phi Alpha hosted the ceremony.

There were many different awards given out ranging from Best Student Leader to the Golden Sphinx Award, he said.

University Police officer Dwight Gentry received the Stacy Dolby Award.

“Just being nominated meant a great deal to me, and I am very honored,” Gentry said. “I will continue to provide a safe environment for education and cultural exchange.”

Michelle Emmett, director of University Programming and Activities, won the Epsilon Phi Special Efforts Award. Alpha Phi Alpha sent Emmett a letter Friday to inform her she won.

“I was very surprised because I didn’t know I was being considered for the award,” Emmett said.

Several students also were recognized at the awards ceremony. Andrea Davis was the female winner of the Best Student Leader Award.

Davis, an NIU senior finance major, said she was “very excited” and speechless.

“The support I give for student activities is sometimes overlooked, so it was nice to know the things I do are recognized because they are important too,” she said.

Thomas Dantzler, an NIU senior economics major, won the male award for the Most Outstanding Athlete. “I was real happy, because I was nominated twice and never won before,” he said.