The Spectrum Awards or "The Gnomees", named for The Center's oldest resident "Spectrum," celebrate the accomplishments of queer students and those that support the success of queer students at Iowa State University.

Congratulations to our 2024 Center Award winners

 

  • Vasudha Arora presenting award to Rachel Scaliatine

    The Center Achievement Award

    This award is given to students that show initiative in participating in, planning, and executing a wide variety of LGBTQIA+ focused events. A Center Achievement Award Recipient should be instrumental in making queer events and programs happen on campus and show initiative in welcoming students to queer groups at Iowa State University.

    Rachel Scaliatine 
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    The Gentle Leader Award

    Not all leaders lead from the front. Leadership is a collaborative process, Spoona Joe Gentle Leader Award Recipients should demonstrate collaboration within queer groups and communities. A winner of this award should be someone that people go to for support. 

    Seth Bequette 
  • Vasudha Arora presenting award to Brandon Culwell

    The Queers at Work Award

    Recipients of this award have represented the queer community at work with flying rainbow colors. Queers at Work Award Winners should have spent the year showing their best work at their on-campus job and deserve to be praised for it. 

    Brandon Culwell 
  • Vasudha Arora presenting award to Allie McPherson

    The Community Inclusion Award

    This award is given to people that are consistently welcoming towards new members of their group be that an on-campus organization, the Center for LGBTQIA+ Student Success, or any other queer-focused space. The Community Inclusion Award recipients should make their group a more inviting place to be. 

    Allie McPherson 
  • Elie Rhodi presenting award to The Pride Alliance

    Queer Program of the Year

    This award is given to the Organization that plans and executes an excellent queer focused program that is open to the Iowa State University Student Body. This program should exemplify queer joy/queer culture at its finest and enrich the lives of LGBTQIA+ students at ISU. 

    The Pride Alliance
  • Elie Rodie presenting award to Planned Parenthood Generation

    The Queer Community Impact Award

    This award is given to the Organization that acts as a voice for the queer community. Speaking up for the needs of the queer community is hard work and deserves to be rewarded, a recipient of this award regularly make a difference at Iowa State and the surrounding area. 

    Planned Parenthood Generation
  • Elie Rodie presenting award to The Pride Alliance and Planned Parenthood Generation

    Queer Collaborative Program of the Year

    This award is given to the Organizations that have planned and executed an excellent program in conjunction with another campus partner. Be it another queer organization, another student organization, a department on campus, or an outside group; showing the ability to work together to create good and supportive queer programming deserves to be rewarded. 

    The Pride Alliance and Planned Parenthood Generation  
  • Elie Rhodi presenting award to The Pride Alliance

    Queer Organization of the Year

    This award is given to the Organization that has spent the year supporting LGBTQIA+ students in every possible way. Be it through programming, advocacy, scholarship, or however else they choose; a recipient of this award should have bolstered the success of students in the queer community. 

    The Pride Alliance
  • Skylxr Manna presenting award to Camryn McPherson

    The Cyclone Allyship Award

    A recipient of the Cyclone Allyship Award should show support for queer students on a consistent basis. The LGBTQIA+ community relies on allies as a resource external to the community and the recipient of this award should regularly embody that.  

    Camryn McPherson 
  • Skylxr Manna presenting award to Alex Davenport

    Queer Organization Advisor of the Year

    This award is given to a faculty or staff member that advises a student organization with conviction. The recipient of Queer Student Organization Advisor of the Year should have demonstrated exemplary support for their Student Organization and provided resources for Org Officers when necessary. 

    Alex Davenport 
  • Skylxr Manna presenting award to Dr. Amy Popillon

    Champion of Queer Student Success

    This award is given to a faculty or staff member that is consistently aware of queer issues and connects students with supportive resources. A Champion of Queer Student Success listens to their queer students and understands the limitations of on-campus resources and how to help their student navigate a university setting. 

    Dr. Amy Popillon 
  • Skylxr Manna presenting award to Dr. Amy Popillon

    Affirming Content and Curriculum Award

    This award is given to a faculty or staff member that creates coursework, lectures, or presentations that are inclusive of queer people. This means creating examples and choosing literature that has deliberate queer representation. 

    Dr. Amy Popillon 
  • Allie McPherson presenting award to Tommy Wren

    Center Alum of the Year

    This award is given to an Iowa State Alum that spent time at the Center (or equivalent) and still supports LGBTQIA+ people in their every day lives.

    Tommy Wren 
  • Allie McPherson presenting award to nicci port

    Queer of the Year

    This award is for a person that has acted as a voice for the queer community in their personal, professional, and daily life. A recipient of this award should be someone that we look to when things seem difficult. 

    nicci port

Frequently Asked Questions

Queer of the year: All Iowa State Students, Faculty, and Staff

Student Awards: All currently enrolled Iowa State Students

Faculty & Staff Awards: All Faculty and Staff currently employed at Iowa State University

Student Organization Awards: All Student Organizations currently registered with the Office of Student Engagement

Yes you can. You just might not be surprised when you receive your nomination letter.

If you are nominated your nomination will be reviewed by one of the awards committees to determine the recipient of the award. All nominees will receive their nomination letter.

Some, if not all, nominees will be invited to attend the awards ceremony with a plus one.

The nomination you send in will be collected to be reviewed by the awards review committee to determine the award recipient.

Once all nominations have been received: some, if not all, nominees will be invited to attend the ceremony and will receive the letter that you wrote. Please indicate on the form if you would like to remain anonymous.

Anyone at Iowa State that feels they know someone that deserves to be nominated for a Gnomee can submit a nomination!

Nominations will be sent to one of our external award selection committees for scoring based on the provided criteria. Once nominations have been scored the highest scored nomination in each category will be considered the winner.

We will use certain "bonuses" such as: involvement in Center events, involvement in LGBTQIA+ centered student-led events on campus, and any other factors deemed relevant to the specific award; to break any ties.

The Spectrum Awards for LGBTQIA+ Student Success is named for the Center's longest resident "Spectrum". Spectrum is designed to look similar to Elwood in the Reiman Gardens, but unlike Elwood, Spectrum is the nonbinary Gnome that watches over Center visitors.

Painted in the 1990's, Spectrum has seen more of the Center's history than any staff member that has worked here. Spectrum is a staple of the Center for LGBTQIA+ Student Success and deserves to be honored alongside the students being awarded at the Gnomees.