THE COUNCIL of Organizations of the Ateneo (COA) held their annual COA Awards on April 22 to give recognition to student leaders and organizations for their effort during the school year.
The COA Awards was held at the Corinthian Gardens Clubhouse and had an estimated attendance of 250 to 300 people.
This year’s theme was “to infinity and beyond,” a theme collectively chosen by the Council of Representatives.
According to Project Deputy Archie Brian Tan, the program organizers wanted a theme that would embody what COA and the COA Awards are all about, and not just for promotion and design’s sake.
“The theme [of Space] is ultimately about how [organizations], their leaders and members, can be seen to venture into the vast and unknown universe…COA Awards aims to celebrate the voyages and triumphs of the organizations,” he explained.
COA President Iesous Hernandez said that the school year was a great year for organizations and that the selection process was difficult across categories.
“I am proud to say that every year, the organizations reach new feats and this is what COA Awards aims to recognize,” he said.
New adjustments
More than celebrating and recognizing the achievements of the different organizations, Tan said that the event aimed to continue establishing groundwork, in terms of the processes that can be applied to succeeding COA Awards.
According to Tan, the qualifiers under the major awards had to undergo rigorous evaluation, including a panel interview composed of a faculty member, administrator, org president, and Sanggu representative.
“With this, we hoped to strengthen the credibility and reputation of COA Awards as an event that recognizes deserving winners,” he said.
Tan added that this year was different because the Executive Board of the Year was added to the major awards roster, while the Nation-Building Project of the Year Award was introduced to the minor awards listing.
“Moreover, we also streamlined the award descriptions and criteria according to COA’s thrust for this school year, namely, excellence, community-building, and nation-building,” he explained.
Hernandez said that participation of organizations in the COA Awards has improved compared to previous years.
“At the same time, we improved our screening procedure to make sure that the democratic aspect is balanced with the keen review of nominees in the different awards,” he added.
Major awards
Among the major awards given, Kythe-Ateneo was proclaimed as the Organization of the Year, recognition of the organization’s embodiment of the COA’s advocacies through positive impact and social relevance.
The criteria for the judging of the Organization of the Year Award included excellence, social impact, member involvement, and synergy.
Kythe-Ateneo President Jara Amin, upon accepting the award, thanked those who supported their organization and kids, who she referred to endearingly as her “gems.”
“My dream for this year and for the next years is for Kythe to see the bigger picture while still rooted in our sector,” Amin said.
Moreover, Kythe-Ateneo’s Executive Board garnered the Executive Board of the Year Award as recognition for facilitating growth and development within their organization.
With regard to leadership strategy, Amin explained that “what really worked for us rin is that each and every one of us knows our place na we’re not not just leaders of our own department, but as a team.”
On the other hand, Ateneo Mathematics Society President Camille Dee was hailed as the Leader of the Year in recognition of her leadership and nation-building skills during her term.
The criteria for Leader of the Year included Excellence and Synergy with a large chunk of 40% allocated to Social Impact.
The Special Education Society’s SPEED Disability Awareness Week was awarded Project of the Year for “fulfilling its goals and objectives with results that were concrete, effective, and relevant within and beyond Ateneo,” as stated in the award description.
Project Head for SPEED Disability Week Phoebe Co stated in an interview with The GUIDON that her initial thrust for the project was to effectively concretize the organization’s advocacy as its flagship project.
She added that winning the award was not the end-goal and that it “serves as a challenge for us in Ateneo SPEED to continue striving for excellence in all our projects and endeavors that we may be able to live up to the award.”
Other winners
Apart from the major awards, other projects under the minor awards category were also given recognition based on a panel screening.
The People’s Choice awards in particular were decided on by the majority of votes via comments on the COA Awards Facebook posts of the nominees.
Tan explained that, this year, they wanted a more inclusive COA Awards that would expand its reach to the entire Ateneo community.
“We wanted to focus on extending COA Awards beyond COA and the EB/CB members of orgs—by making the preparations and event itself as inclusive as possible,” he said.
In a final statement, Hernandez explained that the COA Awards is a place where the community can look back and celebrate all the successes and failures of the year, while recognizing those who went the extra mile.
“It’s inspiring to do better in org life knowing that there are many other organizations who are aiming to improve society in another sphere, discipline, or community,” he concluded.
