The Augustana associate vice president of campus safety & 物流. The king of email memes. 这是无数非盟学生钦佩的源泉——最常通过社交媒体表现出来. 里克·塔珀在12bet游戏平台有很多意义，现在，他也是奥吉骄傲奖得主.
奥吉骄傲奖——授予那些超越职责要求为大学提供卓越服务的人，并由其他非盟员工提名——传统上在大学的年度服务奖中颁发. 然而, 因为奥吉骄傲奖委员会知道塔珀不能参加今年的服务奖, they decided to surprise him ahead of time.
在周五, 4月21日, 塔珀被要求与校长斯蒂芬妮·赫塞斯·桑德林会面——这是校园安全负责人的例行公事. When he arrived at the President’s Suite in the Administration Building, 塔珀在那里受到了一些管理人员的欢迎，与教务长“会面” & Executive Vice President Dr. Colin Irvine — another regular occurrence.
Herseth Sandlin told Tupper their meeting would begin momentarily; she just had to address Irvine’s meeting first but that he should stick around. 然后, 赫赛斯·桑德林开始谈论奥吉骄傲奖，并阅读塔珀提名者的评论——他写道，他愿意承担额外的责任，并不断超越.
“(Rick) thrives in preparation, 尽职调查, 解决问题, risk assessment and, 最重要的是, the safety and security of those around him,” the nominator said. “他经常负责处理不舒服的学生和员工情况. 他每次都以正直、敏感和专业的态度处理这些情况.”
As Herseth Sandlin read these comments, 塔珀一直在想，他要和总统会面的内容是什么.
“I really wasn’t paying much attention because it was her meeting, but then she used the words ‘risk assessments,’我想, “好吧, 这是我的工作. What's going on here?’”塔珀说. “然后 it became obvious, 这时我不得不放下咖啡杯，因为我的手开始发抖.”
For Tupper, the award is extremely meaningful but unexpected.
“I don't think I'm deserving of it, 但能得到同事的认可也很好——希望我所做的事情是有意义的，被认为是重要的,塔珀说. “Because I need every one of them for us to be successful.”
‘No day is the same’
今年是塔珀在12bet游戏平台的第20个年头，但他并不总是在大学环境中工作. The Watertown, 南达科塔州, native joined the U.S. Navy at 17 years old. His parents had to sign the paperwork to allow him to enlist. Tupper spent eight years in the Navy Reserves — serving in Spain twice, 巴拿马运河, England and Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida.
After his time in the Navy, 塔珀获得了亚历山大职业技术学院(现为亚历山大技术学院)的执法学位 & 社区 College) in Minnesota. He then worked for the police departments in Madison and Watertown, 南达科塔州, until he was hired by the Sioux Falls Police Department (SFPD) in 1989.
It was through the SFPD that Tupper became connected to Augustana. As he oversaw personal protection details, 他开始参与奥古斯塔一年一度的Boe公共事务论坛.
“我参加了米哈伊尔·戈尔巴乔夫(前苏联总统)论坛, but the big one I remember is John Major, who was the prime minister of the United Kingdom,塔珀回忆道. “So, 当他们在伦敦时，我有机会与苏格兰场(伦敦大都会警察总部)一起工作，并了解他们. That actually opened the door for me to go work in the U.K. I worked with Scotland Yard and worked out of the U.S. Embassy — all because of an Augie connection.”
最终，塔珀被邀请参加12bet中文官方平台校园安全主管一职的面试. 刚开始工作时，塔珀还负责监管住房，他说这是一个“有趣的挑战”.”
但, challenges allow Tupper to thrive, and in a university setting, the lessons make the challenges worth it.
“在刑事案件中，你发现了一个坏人，可以逮捕一个坏人，然后你就完了，”塔珀说. “我喜欢校园环境的地方在于，我们可以在这个等式中加入一个词——教育. So, I get to play a part in everybody's educational goals as well. 不管你做什么，如果我掺和进来，就不仅仅是找到责任和惩罚了. It's also about trying to help you figure out, ‘How did you get here? How do you move forward?’
“Eighteen to 24-year-olds are going to make mistakes,” he continued. “I enjoy that I get to be a part of helping them figure it out.”
The respect that Tupper shows students is a 2-way street. 在非盟的校园里，他是一位受人尊敬和喜爱的人物——这也许部分要归功于他那封著名的电子邮件.
Tupper is in charge of campus-wide communications, including campus closures, parking notifications and weather updates. Within the past few years, 通过在这些天气更新中加入表情包和幽默，他找到了成功和崇拜，这些更新经常带来又一场暴风雪的消息.
“我试着非常清楚我发出的信息，因为我知道每个人都被各种形式的媒体信息轰炸, but somehow I need you to get this information because if you don’t, bad things could happen,塔珀解释道. “几年前, I just included a picture because it was a s现在 day, and I had some good feedback from that.
“所以，有一天，我又发了一条信息，我问我的女儿(26岁的Ryleigh Tupper)，‘你看到了吗?’ and she said, ‘No, you didn’t include anything in it.’ It kind of clicked that I have to grab their attention somehow. So, 现在, there is that balance that I’ve starting using of, ‘How do I catch your attention but also draw you into the mess年龄?’”
“I have a shared folder with him of different, more current memes to send out to the campus,瑞利说. “我认识的人都很喜欢这些邮件，很期待他的表情包. 我不能把所有的功劳都揽在自己身上，因为他确实自己找到了很多. 但, 我想可以肯定地说，整个校园都非常喜欢他的幽默.”
对于Ryleigh, a first-year AU student, she also loves the memes and the humor he brings to campus, but at the end of the day, Rick is simply her dad.
“每周四，我们都会在早上留出一个小时喝咖啡聊天，”瑞利说. “我们坐在西弗森休息室里，聊着生活、学校和未来. 有时候，如果我心情不好，我会走进他的办公室，只是为了跟他说声“嗨”，或者得到一个拥抱.”
里克的两个大孩子也是12bet游戏平台学院的毕业生，19岁的梅西和21岁的雅各布.
“I think my dad means a lot to the students and staff,瑞利说. “他的工作不容易, and he has hard decisions to make, 但他真的很关心学生，把他们的利益放在第一位. Seeing how he brings joy to the campus makes me happy. Since coming to Augie, I feel like our relationship has grown. We joke around, but I k现在 that he is there for me when I need him most.”
在他空闲的时候, 里克是苏福尔斯航空展的董事会主席, 他是克鲁克斯市公园董事会成员，并曾担任苏福尔斯商会军事主席 & Veterans Affairs Committee, 苏福尔斯退伍军人纪念公园董事会主席和国际校园执法管理人员协会(IACLEA)董事会成员.
然而，在他众多的责任中，里克从未停止为12bet游戏平台努力工作.
“没有一天是一样的，每年都在变化，这就是我喜欢这里的原因.”
The Augie Pride Award began in 1999. To see all past recipients, visit 奥吉.edu/ServiceAwards.