A national organization has selected Brice Yates, a coordinator at the Multicultural Student Center to receive the Outstanding Contribution to Student Leadership Programs Award.

The award recognizes a professional staff or faculty member’s work at the campus level in the area of student leadership programs. Yates will be honored at the 2016 National Association for Student Personal Administrators Annual Conference. Two people, including a student, nominated Yates for the honor.

“Brice winning the award is well deserved,” said Ruth Estimable, Vice President of the Black Student Union. She credits Yates with helping her prepare for the leadership position. “We all appreciate Brice’s hard work so much; he bends over backwards for all of us. He is always there to help with any event idea that I think is crazy and too much to accomplish. He assures me that I can pull it off.”

Yeats said he was surprised by the honor.

“I feel like I’m just a person doing their job, I’m not looking for recognition, but it does feel good to receive it,” he said. “I do this because I am passionate about it. To be recognized for doing something that you are passionate about makes it even more worthwhile.”

Yates duties range from working to help with multiple MSC events and meetings, to advising the MSC students executive board made up of ten graduate students. Creating a collaborative environment is also an important part of his job.

“Being part of MSC, we do a lot of programs based on diversity inclusion and we want to make sure we are there for those students who feel like they may not have a voice on campus. We want to make sure we are addressing the needs of and concerns of those students,” Yates.

The thing he enjoys most about his job is connecting with students.

“The mentoring aspect in higher education is something I’m really excited to be a part of. There are moments that you are delegated as a mentee but then there are some where students come up and just say: I see the work that you have done, or you studied what I’m studying, or just simply I need help do you mind serving as a mentor?”

Yates joins the UCF community after completing his Bachelor of Arts in Spanish at Morehead State University. He continued to earn his Master of Arts in Communication at MSU all while working a full time job.