One of the Faces of IUPUI Talks Top 100
The 20th annual IUPUI Top 100 is on Friday, April 12 at the Indianapolis Marriott and I’m pleased to give our volunteers at every campus a look at what goes into making this program what it is. And it really is more than just a banquet – it’s a celebratory extravaganza recognizing student excellence that takes months and months to pull off.
From the perspective of a staff member charged with orchestrating IUPUI Top 100, I often call it the most stressful but also the most rewarding of my responsibilities.
“Top 100 season” officially begins each fall when we begin accepting nominations which can total 1,500 students. We work with internal partners to promote the program while working to identify and train at least 100 judges to score the applications during all three rounds of scoring. The judging process takes about a month.
Once the 100 honorees have been identified, the fun begins! We notify all applicants of their status then work to gather more information on each honoree. This year will be extra special as we are creating a 20th Anniversary Commemorative Program with the support of the IUPUI 50th Anniversary funding. By the time we get to the week of the dinner, we typically have over 700 people registered and my team and I start working on seating assignments.
Why the program is important
IUPUI is committed to providing educational opportunities that transform the lives of our students, our community, and the changing world around us. The IUPUI Top 100 highlights the transformational things our undergraduates are doing every day. For example, our 2018 honorees collectively completed over 30,000 volunteer hours over the past five year to programs such as Timmy Global Health, Ronald McDonald House Charities, MLK Jr. Day of Service, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, United Way Day of Caring, Cesar Chavez Day of Service …just to name a few. They are dedicated and committed to improving our community. On the Collegiate and Co-Curricular front, they compete in Division 1 athletics, study abroad, and take on leadership roles for programs and organizations like The Brain Trust at IUPUI, Undergraduate Student Government, OTEAM, the IUPUI Regatta and Jagathon. They are truly well-rounded individuals.
All the Details make the Difference
My favorite story that demonstrates the necessity to get even the tiniest of details right happened a few years ago. One of our long-time alumni volunteers approached me about getting a seat for his high school daughter to attend the dinner. She had not yet decided where she wanted to attend college and he wanted to give her a taste of the wonderful things our IUPUI students accomplish. I found out she was considering forensic science and/or criminal justice. Later I had a great placement for her as I was completing the seating assignments. Rather than sit at her at the volunteer’s VIP table, I placed her with a Top 10 student (which would be revealed the night of the dinner) who was double majoring in criminal justice and forensic science. She was also seated with the Director of Career Services and a beloved Associate Director of Student Services – both very supportive and die-hard cheerleaders for their students and their school. After the Top 100 that year, I received an email right away from the volunteer saying, “Thanks to your brilliant seating chart, she was actually motivated to officially enroll today. Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I retrieve that note from my “Atta Girl” file from time to time to remind me of the bigger picture of this program.
Connecting to the Mission
You can peruse the list of former recipients and find many devoted alumni volunteers among them. They are serving on alumni boards, volunteering to be judges, helping with the IUPUI Regatta, or becoming donors to IU. Programs like the IUPUI Top 100 remind us of the great importance and promise of leadership, commitment, and loyalty that drives our alumni to be engaged.
Join us on Friday, April 12, at the Indianapolis Marriott by registering today. Be part of the 20th annual recognition and celebration of outstanding student achievement!