ASWSU Chief Justice Eden Kelshaw choked up as she delivered the oath of office to recently elected President Jordan Frost and Vice President Garret Kalt on Tuesday at the annual WSU Leadership and Engagement Awards of Distinction (LEAD) Ceremony.

“It is my honor and pleasure to do this for you tonight, as two of my closest friends,” Kelshaw said. “I am so proud of you.”

The LEAD Ceremony, hosted in the CUB Senior Ballroom, involved the recognition of all of 2017 President’s Award recipients and the inauguration of the new ASWSU and the Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA) officers.

Before Kelshaw came onstage to swear in Frost and Kalt, former ASWSU President Taylor Christenson and Vice President Kyle Strachila spoke about their time as leaders over the past two semesters.

“It really has been the sweetest year for both of us,” Christenson said.

Both newly elected officers spoke afterward. Frost thanked his mother, whom he called “my hero, my support, literally everything in my life.”

“Jordan and I are just really looking forward to serving you,” Kalt said. “Go Cougs.”

Former GPSA President Melanie Thornton, swore in new GPSA President Shane Reynolds and Vice President Amir Gilmore.

“You are all leaders,” Thornton said to students being recognized. Thornton is one of the seven graduate students who received the 2017 President’s Award yesterday.

WSU President Kirk Schulz presented glass plaques to the President’s Award recipients in the categories of undergraduate students, graduate students, student organizations, faculty and staff, and community organizations.

He presented the award to 42 undergraduate students, including Christenson, Kelshaw, Strachila and ASWSU Sen. Kevin Schilling, who hosted the ceremony. Many other ASWSU leaders received the award as well.

Boost Collaborative and the Pullman Community Council on Aging were the only two community organizations recognized.

Kelly Brantner, director of marketing and membership for the WSU Alumni Association, presented the $1,000 Virginia E. Thomas Endowed Scholarship to undergraduate student Chijioke Emeka. Thomas was the director of the WSU Leadership Center from 1995 to 2003, according to the scholarship website.

Brantner said Thomas taught her to do the right thing, to do great things and to find a mentor, as well as the importance of family and integrity.

“It absolutely matters how you live your life,” Thomas said in a statement Brantner read. “No action is trivial.”