The Founders Outstanding Service award is named in honor of one of the Emerging Recreational Sports Leaders (ERSL) founders, Herman Williams, who made extraordinary contributions in advancing innovative strategies to improve opportunities for minorities in campus recreation.

The Herman Williams Founders Outstanding Service Award, endorsed by NIRSA, was developed in the Fall of 2002 to recognize the contributions that an individual has made to the Emerging Recreational Sports Leaders Conference and minorities.

Award recipients are selected in January for the calendar year. Nominations and applications should be brief and should include the following information:

• Description of the activities or innovations (either completed or underway) and their potential for fostering substantive and sustained improvement in the future for minorities and the Emerging Recreational Sports Leaders Conference.
• Description of the role of the candidate in this activity, the roles of others through collaborative efforts and the candidates leadership qualities that promise continued progress in the future.
• A resume or biography of the candidate.

The Herman Williams Founders Outstanding Service Award is jointly administered by the Emerging Recreational Sports Leadership planning committee, the Emerging Recreational Sports Advisory Board, and past award recipients.

Candidates should demonstrate innovative leadership qualities that have improved the Emerging Recreational Sports Leaders (ERSL) Conference and minorities in the field of collegiate recreation, yet be at a stage in their careers that they still can and will make significant contributions in the future. This award is meant to encourage and support those seeking sustained improvements for minorities in the field of collegiate recreation.

In addition, candidates should demonstrate, through implemented activities, innovative leadership qualities that have been central to the achievement of substantial improvements of minorities in the field of collegiate recreation.

These improvements should benefit students by enhancing opportunities for learning, and wherever possible, should lead to more effective use of resources.

The actions described should involve the cooperation and collaboration of additional individuals and/or organizations.

These accomplishments should further the overall purposes of the award.