Four award ceremonies took place over the final week of May. Photograph by Students’ Union UCL
The Union awards have always been the biggest and most glamorous event on the student calendar, and this year’s ceremonies didn’t disappoint.
Some of the biggest names on campus, as well as some of those who work the hardest behind the scenes, were celebrated across four awards ceremonies in the final week of May.
Here are some of the biggest moments from this year’s awards, in pictures.
Arts Awards
The Arts Awards saw a number of performances by various performing arts societies at UCL
Jazz Soc wins Arts Society of the Year
At the Arts Awards, the Jazz Society was named Best Arts Society, praised for its focus on inclusivity and an incredible programme of events throughout the year, having also jointly claimed Best Arts Event alongside the Salsa Society for the Jazz x Salsa Fiesta, a sold-out joint-society collaboration described by Arts Officer Ashley New as “one of the most fun [events] I’ve had this entire year.”
The Salsa Society, for its part, was named Most Inclusive Arts Society. It previously won Best Arts Society and Most Improved Society in 2023.
In the performing arts, it was a huge night for the cast of Twelfth Night by the Shakespeare Company, named Best Design Project and Best External Production, whilst Live Music Society’s annual rendition of Rhapsody was awarded Best Bloomsbury Theatre Production to thunderous applause.
Era Journal wins Best Publication
In the media scene, Era Journal was named Best Publication, while both editors of The Cheese Grater were recognised for their contribution to the arts and media. Robert Delaney was named Media Personality, whilst the other guy (yes, that’s me) was reluctantly handed an honorary life membership by Union President Goksu Danaci, who couldn’t help but laugh at all the nice things she’s been forced to say.
Other media wins include Teni Gomez of Kinesis Magazine, who won Best Written Media Piece for “Methodological and ethical failures of the Cass Review: why it falls short as a guidance for trans healthcare”, and Film and TV Society for Best Video Media Piece with their coverage of the London Varsity Series.
Uniquely for this year’s awards ceremonies was the presence of Cheese Grater journalists reporting live across four online blogs, updated in real-time. In total, some 900 students viewed our awards coverage!
Sports Awards
The Sports Awards celebrated UCL’s top athletes and those who supported them
Badminton wins Club of the Year
Over in Sports, it was a huge night for the Badminton Club, having won Club of the Year and whose captain, Alina Phang, was named Captain of the Year.
The Cheerleading Club’s Annie Loh was presented the award for Coach of the Year by Activities Sabb Ana Boikova, also formerly of Cheer. In an emotive introduction, Boikova went off-script (having had a few to drink, she later confessed) and told crowds that Annie had been the “best coach ever” and a “vital part” of her UCL experience.
Elsewhere, some of the biggest names on campus – Sports Officer Jack Sibeon and Dodgeball Club’s Elisia Swaby – were named Honorary Life Members of the Union.
Meanwhile, Trisevgeni Papakonstantinou and GB Fencing’s Joe Donaghue were respectively named Sportswoman and Sportsman of the Year.
Some 160 athletes were also awarded a commendation, colours, centenary, or sporting excellence following a fantastic year for Team UCL, which retained the London Varsity title against King’s College.
Shortly before the awards, we spoke to Alex and Callum of Men’s Rugby about their time playing for the team that sealed UCL’s Varsity win back in March.
Rubgy lads Alex and Callum. Alex was awarded a Centenary for his years of service to Team UCL. Video by Nick Miao/The Cheese Grater
Society Awards
The Society Awards celebrated the achievements of UCL’s 300-plus clubs and societies
Malaysian Society wins Overall Soc of the Year
In the Society Awards, the Malaysian Society was named Overall Society of the Year, whilst the Hindu Society claimed Best Event with this year’s Rangeela, which reportedly cost £18,000 to put on.
Mesmerising performance by the Malaysian Society at the Arts Awards. Featured image by Students’ Union UCL. Video by Nick Miao/The Cheese Grater
It was also a great evening for the Gender and Feminism Society, which successfully defended the Diversity and Inclusion Award, having won it for the second consecutive year.
Newcomer Quiz Society was named Best New Society, whereas up-and-coming big-name-on-campus Adam Cleary won Societies Personality of the Year despite only being in his first year at UCL. Adam has involved himself in a wide range of societies, from Stage Crew to the Swifties to our very own sketch comedy wing, the Graters.
Adam: “I set out to do everything, and I didn’t quite manage that.” Featured image by Students’ Union UCL. Video by Nick Miao/The Cheese Grater
State-backed CSSA commended for ‘cultural impact’
Rather surprisingly, the Cultural Society Impact Award went to the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA), noted by the awards panel for its “creativity, commitment and deep cultural impact”, despite warnings from security experts that CSSAs should be “understood as a network actively engaged in serving the interests of the Chinese state”.
A 2023 parliamentary intelligence committee report added that CSSAs and Confucius Institutes were “assessed to be used by the Chinese state to monitor Chinese students overseas and to exert influence over their behaviour.”
In February, the Union kowtowed to anonymous complaints and apologised to students for describing the Spring festivities with the more inclusive term “Lunar New Year” instead of “Chinese New Year”.
Community Awards
The Community Awards recognised the work of reps, officers, and community leaders
Big night for the troublemakers
Finally, the Community Awards saw Sustainability Officer Alan Salazar named Student Officer of the Year, having recently spearheaded the launch of a national student climate council calling on students to stop banking with oil and gas financiers like Barclays and Chase Bank.
Alan was also behind calls for more ethical banking arrangements after The Cheese Grater revealed in January that the Union switched back to Barclays almost as soon as its own ethical banking policy expired, prompted by a share price panic at Metro Bank.
Over in halls, Oskar Baltrop was named Hall Community Officer of the Year, as well as winning Best Hall Event as the only nominee in both categories.
Shortly before the awards, we asked Welfare and Community Officer Rachel Lim why it was that just one hall officer nominated themselves for an award. Here’s what she said:
Rachel: “We can do a lot more work in reaching out to them specifically.” Video by Nick Miao/The Cheese Grater
The hall officer for 109 Camden Road this year led a campaign demanding financial compensation for “normalised” maintenance issues, in the year that UCL halls made record profits while residents found unprecedented levels of disrepair.
Oskar was also one of the handful of officers who exist: despite two attempts to elect a full team, just nine of the 19 positions were filled by the end of the academic year.
In a recent interview, he told The Cheese Grater how student democracy in halls is in the process of being “dismantled” by UCL Accommodation, alleging a lack of institutional support from the Union to defend against the University’s “agenda” to minimise his office.
