Riverboat, an event organized by Student Affairs, was awarded the 2014 May Dunn Ward Innovative Program Award from the NorthWest Association of Student Affairs Professionals (NWASAP). Riverboat took place following the August 30 UP-Stanford women’s soccer game and was the first-ever event held on the University of Portland’s River Campus. Nearly 1,600 students attended this event, which included live music, food carts, carnival games, and roasting marshmallows around fire pits. Attendees had the opportunity to sign “the riverboat,” a rowboat painted purple and white and set up in the center of the event. The organizers of this event intend for Riverboat to be an annual event at the beginning of each school year.
Riverboat was planned by staff members from Student Activities, Residence Life, Public Safety, University Events, University Operations, and the Office of Student Affairs, in collaboration with Bon Appétit.
The May Dunn Ward Innovative Program Award recognizes “programmatic innovation to address emerging needs of students in a new and creative manner.” The award was created in 1987 to honor the achievements of May Dunn Ward, a longtime faculty and staff member at the University of Washington.
