MOST OUTSTANDING Organization NOMINEE
Vietnamese Student Association at Louisiana State University (VSA-LSU)
What are the purpose and goal(s) of your organization, and how has it met or exceeded those goals?
VSA LSU is built on 3 pillars: culture, philanthropy, and social. This year we have successfully embraced our culture with events such as pho night and spring roll night. We have also hosted fashion shows, incorporated Vietnamese lessons into our general body meetings, and expanded our Vietnamese donor community around Baton Rouge. For philanthropy, VSA has raised the most money for the CPP and has had many volunteer events this year to aid the local baton rouge community. For social... what has VSA LSU not done. We typically have an event every week where our members can get together and socialize. On top of that we host intramurals bi-weekly, and have many hangouts outside of VSA events. We have achieved all 3 of our pillars and have grown the community.
Address how your organization was outstanding in the following areas: recruitment, marketing, outreach to campus community, use of resources, officer training and event planning.
Recruitment: Our Freshman Representative has brought in the biggest freshman class there has been in the past 3 years. While we gain new members we are also retaining the older generations. Our general body meetings have been revived with how many people turnout to them (40+)
Marketing: Our graphics have been great and have also been shared to many other socials besides instagram. We send announcements on discord and snapchat. We also post weekly tiktoks.
Outreach to campus community: Again, our freshman rep has brought in lots of new members. We have also collabed with a few other clubs on campus and have collabed with student government for VEGA night where they were actually able to fund the event.
Use of resources: We have utalized our interns for ideas and extra help since losing eboard members. We have also used PSIF from student government to fund VEGA night, our most expensive event of the year.
Officer Training: We have v-day for eboard bonding, do transition, and everyrging is checked by president before being posted
Event planning: our events are excuted over weeks of planning. Every detail that goes into the event goes through eboard. For instance, donations for spring roll night started in January, the shrimp was picked up and cooked, and all of ebaord peeled the shrimp and cut the meat together.
How did the organization work together to maximize strengths and overcome weaknesses?
The executive board maximized their strengths by leaning into what each person did best, like having more organized members handle logistics and timelines while more outgoing members focused on outreach and event promotion. At the same time, they worked on their weaknesses by improving communication and planning ahead instead of leaving things until the last minute. They started holding more structured meetings, checking in regularly, and supporting each other when something fell behind. Over time, this helped them stay more organized, reduce stress, and run smoother, more successful events.
Provide specific examples of how the student group demonstrated growth and development in the 2024-2025 academic year.
At the beginning, things felt a bit unorganized and last minute, but over time the board became more structured and intentional. Meetings got more focused, roles were clearer, and everyone started taking more responsibility. Event planning improved a lot too, with better promotion, stronger turnout, and more thoughtful details that reflected the community. By the end, it felt like everyone was more confident, more involved, and working together in a way that made each event more meaningful.