MOST OUTSTANDING ORGANIZATION NOMINEE
Vietnamese Student Organization at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
What are the purpose and goal(s) of your organization, and how has it met or exceeded those goals?
The purpose of the Vietnamese Student Organization at UL Lafayette is to promote an appreciation for Vietnamese culture on and off of UL Lafayette's campus, and the organization has met the standards set before them and then exceeded them. During the 2023-2024 organizational year, we've had the opportunity to not only promote ourselves on campus with a new establishment of connections and bonds with other organizations, but VSOUL has had the opportunity to build new bonds off campus grounds. VSOUL as an organization went into this school year looking at continuous membership growth, to host more events with organizations on campus, and help foster an environment that allowed anyone to feel welcome in joining the organization. We can proudly say that we met all of those goals set in mind and have set the foundation for a continuous trend of growth in the years to come.
Address how your organization was outstanding in the following areas: recruitment, marketing, outreach to campus community, use of resources, officer training and event planning.
When it came to recruitment, VSOUL made sure that the organization was accessible and open to everyone. From recruitment days, personal connections, and hosting more events on campus, we utilized every resource we had available to bring a new wave of members and a new community in. From a marketing perspective, VSOUL's PR, Historian, and Secretary trio worked tirelessly to find new way to promote events, whether it be through captivating graphics, Instagram reels, or bi-weekly to monthly emails giving our members and potential members a true insight into what VSOUL had to offer. Using new members as well as familiar faces to our advantage, VSOUL began to work with our campuses UPC (University Program Center), fraternities such as Phi Psi, and other Asian student associations including SASE to build strong connections within our campuses community and spread our message and goals to those willing to listen. From those connections, we were able to host collaborative events that promoted closeness within the student body and also serving our original purpose of promoting appreciation for Vietnamese culture. Hosting a larger Lunar New Years event that included a fan dance and Lunar New Year Trivia alongside a Lunar New Year tabling event that one of our freshman members helped us set up as a member of our schools UPC board, we utilized all resources available. VSOUL's officers participated in a variety of training and leadership development events, including events such as Leadership Retreat X, Summit III, and VSOUL's own V-Day hosted and ran by the 2023-2024 Advisors. Finally, with event planning, VSOUL utilized event planning by using the outlines of previous years templates, layouts, and reviews of events to generate the best possible by improving on the events and cleaning up any errors caught from previous runs. VSOUL strived to add new things to events or plan new events that gave back to our members to the best of our ability.
How did the organization work together to maximize strengths and overcome weaknesses?
VSOUL worked together to build on the strengths we already had. With a strong sense of community, an upward climbing in the organization internally after a couple of years worth of growth, and a strong presence within the Gulf Coast region, VSOUL worked to keep those strengths and build them up even more. With help from alumni and current members, we were able to take large groups to events such as Talent Auction, Summit III, and to visit other schools within the region and support those around us. VSOUL did face weaknesses just like any other organization. Losing a strong community of alumni and former members to graduations and pursuance of their careers as well as a very tight schedule within the Executive Board that made scheduling events difficult, we utilized resources such as Google Calendar, when2meet, and other planning resources to not only schedule meetings and events early but to benefit our members most. Another struggle we faced as an organization was not booking events on top of others to give everyone the best chance to support their local VSA's. We did lose some visitation from other schools due to scheduling conflicts, but in return we used that to give back to our local community and treat them to the best we had to offer.
Provide specific examples of how the student group demonstrated growth and development in the 2023-2024 academic year.
The student group within VSOUL demonstrated growth through the opportunities provided to them by our organization. Whether it be through our ACE program, which encourage personal growth from the Executive Board as mentors to freshman members and beyond, as well as development in cultural knowledge from Viet lessons during our General Body meetings and other cultural events, we strived to give other the chance to blossom during VSOUL's 2023-2024 academic year.