Note to editors: The following news release is courtesy of the Kansas State Collegian. Bryon Williams is a graduate of Sumner Academy of Arts, Kansas City, Kan.
Photo available. Contact media@k-state.edu or 785-532-6415.
News release prepared by: Elise Podhajsky, epod@k-state.edu
Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008
K-STATE'S BLACK STUDENT UNION IS BEST IN THE BIG 12
MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University's Black Student Union received the Clarence Wine Most Outstanding Big 12 Council of the Year award at the 31st annual Big 12 Conference on Black Student Government, Feb. 14-16, at Oklahoma State University.
It's the second time the K-State Black Student Union has received the award in the past three years.
Accepting the award was Bryon Williams, senior in economics, Manhattan, and president of the K-State Black Student Union.
"I was speechless," Williams said. "I was grinning for, like, three hours. My jaw was hurting and I just couldn't stop smiling because of all the hard work we really put into this BSU."
Winning the award means K-State's Black Student Union members have put together the best black student governing organization in the Big 12 and surrounding universities, Williams said.
Williams said the award is based on a scholarship packet each organization is required to put together. He said K-State's packet contained about 15 pages of essays detailing what the Black Student Union has done academically through the year.
They also had to create a delegate book -- which is comparable to a yearbook -- of all the activities the Black Student Union put together through the year. Williams said the conference's executive board, which selected the winner, also looked at recruitment retention of minorities, community service, campus involvement and the group's overall effectiveness on campus.
"We were really honored that out of all these great schools who are doing all these great things on their campuses, they selected us. We're really setting an example for other schools, so it really was a truly humbling experience," Williams said.
Williams' leadership is credited with helping the Black Student Union achieve.
"He's the type of person that if somebody needs help, no matter what he's doing, he'll drop what's he doing to help that person out," said Brittany Delaney, sophomore in communication science disorders, Junction City, and a member of Black Student Union. "He really does have an impact on us. He is a strong voice among us. He really does carry us as an organization, he makes sure everybody does what they have to do and he keeps us in line."
Williams said his leadership abilities, sense of purpose and passion is something he has had ever since he came to K-State and attended his first Black Student Union meeting.
When he was a freshman, the Big 12 Conference on Black Student Government was at K-State, and Williams said he immediately volunteered to serve on the special programs committee for the event.
"He was definitely unique," said Brandon Clark, coordinator of multicultural programs for the K-State Alumni Association and a former member of Black Student Union. "This conference being such a big event and big deal, he was the only freshman who stood up and volunteered, saying, 'I want to serve on the actual committee, to hold an actual co-chair commission.'
"It was then that I knew he was going to be a very special young man," Clark said. "The responsibility he took on let me know he was someone to look out for as a future leader on this campus."
Williams said his experience of serving on the committee for the conference was what made him fall in love with the Black Student Union. Since then, he said he can literally count on two hands the number of weekly Black Student Union meetings he has missed throughout his four years at K-State.
"We've just watched him grow since he's been here," Clark said. "We're all very proud of him, and we know he has a bright future ahead of him."
Williams said after graduating in August, he hopes to attend graduate school at K-State and study economics. He eventually would like to work for the World Bank in Washington, D.C.
"That's one of my dreams in life -- trying to make the world less polarized and more equal across the world," he said.