Congratulations to all 2024 NIRSA award recipients

NIRSA and the entire field of collegiate recreation are made great by the passion, drive, and dedication of some truly amazing individuals and institutions. Each year, NIRSA is proud to recognize some of its extraordinary members with a variety of awards. Recipients of many NIRSA awards are announced ahead of the NIRSA Annual Conference while others are first made public during the Association’s signature event.

The Association would like to congratulate all award recipients for their excellence—especially those individuals listed below who were announced for the first time during the 2024 NIRSA Annual Conference & Campus Rec and Wellness Expo!

Juliette Moore People of Color Distinguished Leadership Award

The Juliette Moore Distinguished Leadership Award recognizes those individuals who best exemplify the hard work and dedication that go into the continuing creation of a diverse and inclusive community. These individuals, through their actions and example, provide members with a standard of excellence to aspire to and achieve. The award was presented during the 2024 Founders People of Color Social, sponsored by PLAE and Life Fitness, on April 18.

Award Recipient

Wendy Windsor, Ed.D., RSS, Tulane University

Regional Award of Merit

The NIRSA Regional Awards of Merit recognize a professional from each NIRSA region who demonstrates exceptional performance or dedication to NIRSA or the field of collegiate recreation. These awards were presented during regional meetups held on April 19.

Region I

Ryan Hagen, Yale University

Region II

Gene E. Sherry, Georgia Southern University

Region III

Nick Froelich, CENTERS @ Cleveland State University

Region IV

Nicole Olmeda, The University of Texas at Austin

Region V

Lauren Brown, Red Rocks Community College

Region VI

Todd Bauch, Portland State University

Canadian Region

Sandra Ondracka, University of Windsor

Sarah Fain Distinguished Service Award

The Sarah Fain Distinguished Service Award celebrates the dedication of a NIRSA Championship Series volunteer who has embodied the spirit of Sarah Fain through their commitment to the NIRSA Championship Series and its tournaments over the course of many years of service.

The award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated exceptional performance in leadership and in the development of NIRSA programs, policies, events, special projects, or committees. The award was presented at the NSC Thank You Social on April 17.

Award Recipient

Steve Rey, Western Kentucky

Outstanding Facilities Awards, presented by Mondo

Campus Rec Innovative Programming Awards

Creative Excellence Awards

A huge congratulations to all recipients

Again, congratulations to all this year’s NIRSA award recipients, true leaders in collegiate recreation! The full roster of 2024 award recipients will soon be added to the historical list of recipients on the individual award pages of the NIRSA website.