Part of the formal matriculation ceremony at our UAS is the tradition whereby the President of the Student Parliament (StuPa) welcomes the new students in true student fashion. Together with the Chair of the General Student Committee (AStA), he has – since 2008 – gone on to announce the names of the winners of the Student Engagement Award.
This year, David Altmann (STuPA President) and Lukas Burmester (AStA Chair) invited four female students and one male student onto the stage of the Hansestadt Theatre to honour their achievements and present the awards.
For the newly enrolled students, some of the award winners’ faces were familiar. This is because all those honoured have shown a level of commitment far exceeding the norm – whether in the student councils, the AStA, the StuPa, or in the organisation and running of major events on campus, as well as acting as reliable points of contact for students and first-year students in their faculty or degree programme.
For example, Vanessa Eickelberg, who is studying at the Faculty of Architecture and Design, led guided tours during Freshers’ Week, helped organise the Freshers’ Get-Together, as well as the StuWi, the CampusOpenAir Wismar and served as a representative on the IDA Council. One highlight was organising a DKMS fundraising campaign.
Civil engineering student Ludwig Finke is active on the Civil Engineering Students’ Council and promotes study abroad semesters and involvement in student bodies across campus. When around 100 students from German-speaking countries met at our UAS for the Civil Engineering Students’ Councils Conference (BauFaK) to discuss their studies, politics and teaching, this was largely thanks to his efforts.
Lilli Schubert is described as a ‘living archive’ by the Mechanical Engineering/Process and Environmental Engineering (MVU) Student Council, in which she has been active since her third semester, and is a member of the organising teams for the summer and mid-term festivals. She contributed to the show garden on Poel, designed and organised special MVU merchandise, and cleared out, rearranged and furnished 20 communal and study rooms in Building 20.
Samira Korth, who was unfortunately unable to attend the ceremony, has been actively involved across faculties at the UAS for many years and, through her extensive network, promotes exchange between students, staff and lecturers. The civil engineering student helps out at numerous events, in UAS sports and on committees; she takes on organisational tasks and assists students with, amongst other things, finding jobs, research projects, modules and tutorials. Through her Mental First Aid training, the establishment of a materials library, her support for international students and her expertise in ecological building materials and construction methods, she contributes both professionally and socially.
Anna Pommerenke has been deeply involved in student life and networking at the UAS for several years, including serving on the IDA Council from 2024/25, where she helped organise numerous events such as the WohnzimmerOpenAir, the rooftop party, the DKMS blood donation day, Freshers’ Week and the Wiesenrave. She also takes on creative and organisational tasks, such as designing event posters and social media posts. In addition, she supported the KuM first-year students in 2024, organised a get-together and assisted them with any queries and their search for accommodation. Since 2025, she has served as the student representative on the Ethics Council and, since 2023, has acted as the main point of contact for artists and management at Campus Open Air.