July 3rd inaugurated IE University’s first-ever held Club Awards Ceremony, an hour-long celebration to the many vibrant and unique clubs fellow IE students have created and continued in the 2019-2020 school year.
The ceremony started with a live statement from IE President Santiago Iniguez, congratulating IE students on their accomplishments and resilience despite the extenuating circumstances formed by the global coronavirus pandemic. Iniguez’s inspiring sentiments were matched by the sentiments of IE University’s respective deans Martin Boehm, Lee Newman, Martha Thorne, Soledad Atienza, and Susana Malcorra.
During the ceremony, there were nine awards given out, 8 of them club awards, and one of them an individual award. The awards were given out for:
- Best Art Society Club
- Best Social and Community Club
- Best Sports Club
- Best Geographic Club
- Best Professional Club
- Most Adaptable Club
- Event of the Year
- IE Blueprint Award
- IE Spirit Award
The last three awards mentioned in this list slightly differ from the Club Awards, as they were awarded for reasons not related to a specific category. The Event of the Year award was given to the club that hosted the most impactful event during the 2019-2020 school year. The Spirit Award was the award presented to 3 nominees whose work is considered impactful and who will “leave a legacy” in their future. And the Blueprint Award was awarded to the club that best left the means, or a “blueprint”, to benefit future generations within their club.
For the first part of the Club Awards Ceremony, the official club awards were presented. The “Best Art Society Club” award was given to the IE Theatre Production Club, for their inclusive production “The Turn of the Century.”
The “Best Social and Community Club” award was given to the IE SDG Club, for their continuation of accomplishing SDG goals even during the coronavirus.
For the “Best Sports Club” award, the award was presented to the IE Yoga Club for their activeness in events and meetings, despite the coronavirus impeding normal club activities.
With the “Best Geographic Club” award, the IE Africa Club won the award for its successful hosting of its “Virtual Africa Business Conference,” describing how business in Africa will be conducted in a “COVID-19” environment.
The “Best Professional Club Award” was awarded to three clubs, the IE Consulting Club, the IE Women and Business Club, and the IE Sports Management Club, for their professionalism in event handling, club coordination, and long-term goals.
Finally, the “Most Adaptable Club” award was presented to the IE Sports Management Club for their adaptability in both its in-person and COVID-19 settings, honoring the club’s capabilities to continue despite the club’s sport-management based background.
With the second part of the Club Awards Ceremony, the IE Spirit Award was given out. The three nominees for this exclusive award were Sofia Kritikopoulos, Tyesha Tucker, and Wei Liu, in which there were two winners. The winners would also receive a “Thermal Body Spa Treatment” at the high-class Urso Hotel. After much hype, the winners of the Spirit Award turned out to be Wei Liu and Sofia Kritikopoulos, for their impact and future legacy leaving their marks on the IE community.
The next award given out was IE’s Event of the Year Award. The nominees for this award were the IE Women in Business Club’s “Leading Forward” event, IE Africa Club’s “Virtual Africa Business Conference”, IE Out and Allies Club’s “LGBT at work” event, and TechIE’s “Digital Conference 2020” and “IE Black Summit” events. For this award, the winner was IE Women in Business Club’s “Leading Forward” event, where women who are leaders in business were asked about questions about topics such as ‘lifelong learning’ or the ‘evolution of success’.
The final award presented was the “IE Blueprint Award” for the club that has best left their mark at IE. The winner of this award would receive tickets to the IE Alumni weekend, to better increase their networking and meet new people. The winner of this award was the IE Consulting Club for their contributions towards their club members and the IE community relating to consulting experience and lucrative opportunities with real companies.
After these awards, the Clubs Awards Ceremony had another present given to the Stork. The Stork, for their motivated doggedness in reporting towards the IE community and creating awareness towards IE University events and happenings, received an interview with renowned CNN Madrid correspondent Al Goodman.
To round off the awards, IE University’s Talent and Careers Department introduced their upcoming website JobTeaser, where companies can search for IE student profiles for potential jobs and internships, and Nahsila Velji, director of Undergraduate Alumni Relations, relayed information about the IE alumni program and IE alumni benefits.
The IE Club Awards Ceremony celebrates the achievements of IE students, both graduate and undergraduate, and has demonstrated the hard work, persistence, and entrepreneurial spirit that IE University is known for. Despite the unavoidable pandemic that impeded on IE student lives and activities, the tenacity shown by IE’s club leaders and members ran uninterrupted. Congratulations everyone!
