49th Annual Robins Awards

The 49th Annual Robins Awards, honoring those who have made an impact and shown dedication to Utah State University, will be April 21 at 7 p.m. in the Taggart Student Center’s Stevenson Ballroom. The evening features entertainment by Kurt Bestor.

“The Robins Awards are the most coveted of all campus honors,” said Karilyn Flake, 2007 traditions director. “On that night, awards are given to students and faculty who have displayed commitment and vision to the university, as did William E. Robins, after whom the awards are named.”

Bill Robins had the vision for a student center while he was USU’s student body president in 1949. His energy and dedication helped make the student center a reality, and his name has “stood through the passing years as a symbol of the best youth has to offer,” according to the Robins Awards committee.

The Robins Awards were started in 1958 by the Sigma Nu Fraternity, of which Bill Robins was a member. As a result of a plane crash that took the lives of Robins and his wife, Geraldine, a fund was established to raise scholarship dollars for Robins’ one-year-old boy, who was not on the airplane. It was to be used by the Robins boy for his college education. However, tragedy struck again when the boy died from leukemia at six years of age. The fraternity decided to plan an event that would honor Robins and his family, and thus, the Robins Awards were established, according to the committee.

The featured award of the night is the Bill E. Robins Award. Awards are also given to Male and Female of the Year, Professional Advisor of the Year, as well as many others. Last year, the Legacy of Utah State Award was introduced in honor of the students and the instructor who were killed in the USU van accident in Sept. 2005.

Flake said Gerald R. Sheratt, mayor of Cedar City and past Robins winner, will present an award. Val R. Christensen, the service center’s namesake, will present the Service Award.

This year the entertainment is provided by Utah-based composer and performer Kurt Bestor.

Bestor has written scores for more than 30 films, received an Emmy for his work with Sam Cardon on music for ABC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics in 1988 and is also a recipient of the Outstanding Film Score Award at the New York Film and Television Festival.

Contact: Karilyn Flake, 435-797-1722, karilyn@cc.usu.edu

Writer: Whitney Robins, 435-797-8526, whitro@cc.usu.edu