Five University of Nebraska-Lincoln students will receive the William N. Wasson Student Leadership and Academic Award presented by NIRSA, the national association for campus recreation leadership, during the association’s annual conference held March 23-26, 2023 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Nebraska leads the nation with 80+ recipients since the award’s inception in 1993 and is the only higher-ed institution in the country to have at least one Wasson Award winner every year the award has been given.

Now in its thirtieth year, the award is named after NIRSA’s founder Dr. William N. Wasson and is annually bestowed upon undergraduate and graduate students across the United States and Canada. It recognizes outstanding undergraduate and graduate students who are active participants, employees or volunteers in collegiate recreational sports departments. Criteria for the award include self-improvement through leadership, academic success, activities, volunteerism, and promoting inclusion.

Nebraska's recipients this year are:

• Sophia Thomas, a senior Political Science major from Dallas, TX
• Hattie Roberts, an Educational Administration master’s degree graduate student from Williston, VT
• Kinna Arp, a senior Nutrition, Exercise, & Health Science major from Lincoln, NE
• Brynn Fuelberth, a senior Environmental Studies major from Lincoln, NE
• Bethany Meyers, an Educational Administration master’s degree graduate student from Omaha, NE