Dylon Harrison
Staff Writer
ISU’s College of Business has named a recipient of its outstanding student leader award for the first time in six years.
Emerald Lewis is an ISU senior majoring in informatics. She has been the president of the Informatics and Computer Science Student Organization since the fall and is also a member of the applied informatics team. She is also the 2017 recipient of the Outstanding Student Leadership Award.
Lewis was not a member of the organization before becoming president. She was also appointed to the position by the organization’s advisor, Kevin Parker.
“Last Spring, I asked Emerald to serve as president of the student organization,” Parker said. “She agreed and immediately began to turn things around.”
When Lewis was first appointed to the position, the club’s meetings averaged only a few attendees per meeting. Now the average has risen to 20-30 people at each meeting.
When Lewis first accepted the position, Parker jokingly told her that she was now “the president and only member” of the club, in reference to its declining membership numbers.
To get new members for the Informatics and Computer Science Student Organization, Lewis went around to informatics and computer science classes and talked to students about the club. She also worked with the ISU’s marketing department to create a new logo for the club in an effort to find students interested in the club’s activities.
In addition to helping increase the number of members, Lewis also helped plan multiple events and arranged for guests to speak to the members of the organization.
She said being president of the organization has helped her with her academic pursuits by forcing her to take on challenges that she may not have otherwise. She also said she is thankful for the opportunities presented to her by the position she holds.
Her accomplishments as president of the Informatics and Computer Science Student Organization are what earned her this award, after it had not been given to anyone in so many years.
“I was totally taken by surprise by it,” Lewis said. “I’m mostly honored and now I feel like I’ve got to do more, step it up, make me feel like I earned it.”
Lewis will be graduating in December. Because of this, she plans to step down as president at the end of this school year and spend her final semester at ISU assisting the new leaders of the club.
“I really want a strong transition of power before I leave, to hopefully keep the club going strong,” Lewis said. “I’m on the lookout for someone who is a good candidate.”
The organization is planning to hold elections soon and hopes to have its new officers in place by the end of the semester.
They are always accepting new members. Anyone is welcome to join. The only requirement is a $20 membership fee that must be paid once per semester. Lewis said she hopes to get more people involved in the club and keep it growing after she graduates.
