Student leaders from all corners of the Iowa State received awards for their efforts from the Veishea committee on Tuesday.

Many colleges and greek communities within the ISU community were recognized for their accomplishments during the award ceremony. Awards doled out during the ceremony in the Durham Great Hall of the Memorial Union included the Veishea Outstanding Student Leadership Award and Senior Leadership Recognition Award.

Thomas Hill, vice president of student affairs, served as the master of ceremonies for the event while alumnus Andrew Allen, who is currently employed by Principal Financial Group, delivered the ceremony’s keynote address.

Allen, a second generation ISU alum, graduated magna cum laude in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in business. His achievements range from working with homeless youths to serving in soup kitchens to being included in the Des Moines Business Record’s 2007 “40 under 40” list.

Hill said the students who were being awarded displayed commitment and leadership in many areas and filled many differing roles in the campus community. He said he had seen student activities such as Veishea “grow bigger and better every year.”

Work ethic, dedication and care in every endeavor paid off for each of the nominated students. Those skills, he said, unveiled the potential for excelling in leadership for each.

“Iowa State University is an institution with great student leadership. We try to supply leadership opportunities in all aspects of student’s lives, which allow them to acquire and enhance their leadership skills,” Hill said. “The people in this room have demonstrated the qualities and characteristics of leadership.”

Allen, who was the centerpiece of the event, spoke on the ceremony’s themes and what it means to be a leader. Allen said he was surprised to be speaking about being a leader, because for most of his life he was a drug addict and on probation. He did not graduate from his high school – he was expelled. Allen also started to drink and experiment with drugs when he was 13 and committed his first felony when at the tender age of nine. He said he kept committing felonies for most of his adolescent life until he landed in treatment at Youth and Shelter Services.

“I had squandered so much of my youth, I wondered how I would make it,” he said.

Allen changed his life when he got sober, went through college and graduated with high academic marks.

“I’ve had amazing experiences, which has fueled inside of me a passion for community service,” he said. “I’ve come to believe that the most effective way to motivate people is to build on their strengths.”