Every month, the Office of Student Leadership and Engagement honors a student leader who has made positive contributions to The University of Tampa. The Bob Ruday Student Leader of the Month exemplifies leadership traits, goes above and beyond to contribute to the UT community. The recipients serve as a role model to other students and display a high sense of personal responsibility and morals. Students, faculty, staff and off-campus contacts are encouraged to nominate a student for this award. Self-nominations are also accepted.
If you have a student in mind that fits this description, please nominate them. Forms must be submitted by the last Friday of each month. One recipient will be chosen each month and will receive an award certificate, $150 and UT swag.
2023-2024 Recipients
Maddie Hart - September
- LiveWell FOODS Director
- Nutritional Counseling Director
- Anatomy and Physiology Teaching Assistant (TA)
- Maddie facilitates FOODS events that allow the UT community to feed themselves in a more healthful manner. She directs a group of consultants that provide nutritional information to a large population of students and other members of the UT community.
- She is also a Biology TA, spending hours during and after class teaching younger members of the UT community.
- These are all elements of her life that directly improve the lives of other in the UT community, but they are also aspects that improve her professional resume, allowing her to move forward in life to take on ever greater roles and challenges that will propel her to be a highly distinguished UT alumni as her professional career progresses.
- Maddie is the epitome of a role model for other students displaying character traits far beyond her years as an undergraduate student. She navigates a near bursting schedule with the utmost care and consideration for every task she has chosen to fill her time with.
- Moving through a schedule that consists of numerous organization that call her attention shows her acute attention to detail and desire to accel in all aspects of her life as a dietician.
- Students in the UT community can see Maddie as a role model for how to be an extremely well rounded holistic student that prioritizes personal learning, improving her community, and balances free time for self-reflection and growth.
James Fowler - October
- UTAMPA 104 Student Mentor
- Student Assistant for Veteran’s Programs, Office of Operations
- Campus Safety Student Assistant
- Student Government Representative, UTech Club
- James is uniquely positioned to support, encourage, and advocate for the student veteran experience. He essentially runs the day-to-day operations of the student veterans lounge, shares positive moments from the students, and brings concerns and areas of opportunity up to relevant staff for involvement and resolution.
- Simply put, James is a rockstar student and leader. We are incredibly fortunate to have him as part of the UT community.
- James is a true resource and role model for incoming and continuing student veterans to UT. His role as the UTAMPA 104 peer mentor enables him to work directly with new students to introduce them to UT, share resources and engagement opportunities, and demonstrate what a successful student veteran can look like.
- Through his work managing the lounge, James helps foster connection between new and continuing student veterans and builds a space conducive to creating a sense of belonging for this specific population.
- Additionally, James is currently working with other student veterans on campus to restart a chapter of the Student Veterans of America organization on campus.
Bianca Flores - November
- Vice President of the Black Student Union
- UT Diplomat
- Resident Assistant in Palm Apartments
- Marketing Chair for Club W.I.S.E.
- Director of Programming for Student Government
- Spartan Connect Mentor
- Sigma Delta Pi Hispanic Professional Women's Association Member
- Student Conduct Board Transformative Fellowship Program
- Teaching Assistant at Dunbar Elementary Magnet School
- As director of programming, Bianca plans many of the programs for Student Government throughout the semester, including events for Fall Family Weekend, the Veterans Day program, and helping with the Midnight Madness program.
- As a resident assistant, Bianca has been very involved and dedicated to creating a safe space for residents throughout the years.
- In sitting on the Student Conduct Board, Bianca is committed to upholding the Student Code of Conduct and making sure that all students are being held to the same standard.
- In serving in her many roles on campus, Bianca is dedicated to motivating her mentees and residents, and helping them when it comes to necessary information that Spartans need to be successful.
- Bianca is always so patient with her residents. She plans social activities to encourage meeting new friends as well as acknowledges her residents' birthdays and gives out treats for their special day.
Ava Shore - December/January
- Vice President of Recruitment for the College Panhellenic Association
- Member of Delta Gamma Sorority
- Spartan Ambassador for Admissions
- Ava serves as the VP of Recruitment Personnel for the College Panhellenic Association, where she supports all seven of our sororities through the planning and implementation of the formal recruitment process for Fall 2023. This role was heavy over the summer and completely voluntary, so everything she did was purely to see the community have a successful recruitment.
- She is also the sweetheart for a fraternity on campus, where she assists them to be better men on campus.
- Ava also works off campus as a cycling instructor and is always hosting events for our organizations to have bonding events.
- September was when formal recruitment took place, which is when all of Ava’s planning finally took place. We would not have been able to have such a successful recruitment with over 1,000 women involved if it weren’t for her leadership.
- While the process was going on, Ava advised over 50 women who assisted the potential new members going through recruitment as well as the leaders in the seven chapters we have in the CPA council.
- Ava is heavily involved on campus and a student you can easily recognize as a leader and as someone you can go to for anything.
- Even in her senior year, she exceeds expectations brought forth to her and is always looking to make herself, her sorority and her community better every day! Even as her advisor, I look to Ava as a role model.
Andrew Repak - February
- President's Leadership Fellows, member
- Lead Vaughn Center Building Manager
- Delta Sigma Pi, brother and Webmaster
- Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, member
- Dean’s Advisory Group to the College of Business, member
- Root@UT, Ethical Hacking Club, executive officer
- Personal Finance Club, member
- Entrepreneurship Club, member
- As a Lead Vaughn Center Building Manager, Andrew always provides quick assistance to students, faculty, and staff entering the Spartan Club, and goes out of his way to help others when he can tell they are confused. He also addresses the concerns of the other Vaughn Center Building Managers promptly and respectfully, ensuring that they feel confident in their position.
- Andrew goes above and beyond to assist with last minute tasks related to the Spartan Club, including assisting in developing an assessment basis for the Spartan Club Billiards Tournament, fixing one of the pool tables and delegating other things as needed to the rest of the staff.
- Andrew has provided hands-on training with the new staff to prepare them for their role. Even when he is off on a given day, he is quick to ensure all concerns are heard, understood, and addressed in a timely manner. Andrew is responsible and dependable, and communicates with his supervisor proactively and respectfully. He sets a positive example for the other Building Managers by modeling professionalism and leadership skills.
- Andrew's PLF mentee drops by during Andrew's shifts to ask questions about planning his class schedule or his social change project, and Andrew is always willing to stop what he is doing to help.
- Members of DSP have come by the Spartan Club for Andrew's advice on how to improve their professional skillsets and for advice on other life situations. Andrew always kindly provides insight and support to his peers without judgement; it is evident they look up to him as someone trustworthy.
- Andrew does what he says he is going to do, and says what he means to say. His actions match what he states he will accomplish.
Lucia Sacerdoti - March
- Student Productions, President
- Delta Zeta, Member
- WFLA News Channel Programming Intern
- Vogue (Madrid, Spain) Communications Trainee
- Tampa Magazines Social Media Marketing Intern
- USF Athletics Event Management Intern
- Serving as the President of Student Productions, she has exemplified outstanding leadership by overseeing every event with grace and dedication. Not only has she fulfilled her own responsibilities, but she has also stepped in to support her team members during times of need, ensuring that all tasks are completed and everyone feels supported.
- Her empathetic approach to leadership is evident in how she comforts and assists those facing challenges, allowing them the space to recover while maintaining the momentum of the organization.
- Lucia has shown her commitment to inclusivity and community building through her event planning, where she prioritizes creating inclusive spaces where all students feel welcome and connected. She has gone out of her way to make sure that students with dietary concerns have something to eat at any of our events. When considering event ideas, she makes sure that they will be accessible to all.
- She has provided students with an opportunity to provide feedback after each event, so she can understand what students need to have fun and be carefree at SP's events.
- With a clear vision for enhancing campus engagement through diverse and enjoyable events, Lucia is truly making a positive impact on the UT campus and beyond.
Eliana Palmer - April
- Delta Phi Epsilon, Member
- Vice President of Philanthropic Services for the College Panhellenic Association
- Chabad Jewish Student Union, President
- First-Year Experience, Peer Mentor
- Office of Orientation, WoW! Leader
- Alpha Kappa Delta, International Sociology Honors Society, Theta Chapter of Florida, member
- Phi Eta Sigma, First-Year Honor Society, Member
- Sociology Club, Member
- Active Minds, Member
- UT Women’s Weightlifting, Member
- In her role as the VP of Philanthropic Services for the College Panhellenic Association (CPA), Eliana has adopted Circle of Sisterhood as the CPA's main philanthropy where she has planned weeks of education and fun for not only members of Panhellenic, but any woman to attend at the University.
- She always has innovative ideas to garner more awareness for Circle of Sisterhood and is a great resource for any help in fundraising or creating meaningful events.
- She advocates for others, steps up when times get tough and always does so with a smile on her face.
- Ellie serves as a role model by quickly being an active member and taking on leadership roles in every aspect of campus that she can. By being elected into these roles, she has already shown others that she is reliable and a good role model to future members of student orgs or her sorority/Panhellenic.
- When in a position where she can make real change, Ellie does not shy away from doing so and makes sure everyone's voices are heard.
