Pillars of the Forty Acres
Pillars of the Forty Acres is a recognition program for student organizations whose activities embody the Core Values of The University of Texas at Austin. The program has six categories that align with the Core Values. Organizations receive points for completing the criteria within each category to earn recognition status and rewards.
There are two levels of recognition status: Distinguished and Exemplary. To achieve Distinguished Status, an organization must achieve six (6) additional points in one Core Value category. To achieve Exemplary Status, an organization must achieve Distinguished Status in five of the six Core Value categories. Additional details on completing criteria can be found on the Pillars Instruction page.
Student organizations can log completed criteria between March 1, 2020 and March 12, 2021 (deadline has been extended). Organizations that achieve Distinguished and Exemplary status will be honored at the Evening of the Stars late spring 2021.
To participate, all organizations must be in good standing, attend an information session, ensure their organization HornsLink Official and submit criteria as directed for credit. Full details on requirements can be found on the Pillars Instruction page.
If you have questions about the Pillars of the Forty Acres program, please contact Student Activities at awards@austin.utexas.edu.
Pillars of the Forty Acres Distinguished Status
To achieve Distinguished Status in 2019-2020, an organization had complete 8 points in one Core Value category.
2020 Recipients
- *Alpha Epsilon Delta (Learning, Discovery, Leadership, Responsibility and Individual Opportunity)
- alpha Kappa Delta Phi (Learning, Discovery, Leadership, Responsibility and Individual Opportunity)
- American Medical Student Association (Leadership and Individual Opportunity)
- Austin Conservation Project (Leadership)
- Black Student Alliance (Individual Opportunity)
- Campus Environmental Center (Leadership)
- Campus Events + Entertainment (Leadership and Individual Opportunity)
- **Camp Kesem (Learning, Discovery, Freedom, Leadership, Responsibility and Individual Opportunity)
- *Disability Advocacy Student Coalition (Discovery, Freedom, Leadership, Responsibility and Individual Opportunity)
- *Hindu Students Association (Learning, Discovery, Leadership, Responsibility and Individual Opportunity)
- Hispanic Business Student Association (Individual Opportunity)
- Humanity First (Leadership)
- Ismaili Muslim Students Association (Leadership)
- Lang Stuttering Institute Student Leadership Organization (Leadership)
- Latinx Health Professions Organization (Leadership)
- Longhorn Gaming (Leadership)
- Longhorn Singers (Leadership)
- *Longhorn Stream Team (Leadership)
- National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) On Campus (Discovery)
- Natural Sciences Council (Individual Opportunity)
- Pi Lambda Chi Latina Sorority, Inc. (Responsibility)
- Planet Longhorn (Leadership)
- Punjabbawockeez (Leadership)
- School of Human Ecology Ambassadors (Learning and Leadership)
- SCORE Athletics (Leadership)
- Sigma Delta Tau (Leadership)
- Silver Spurs (Leadership)
- Socks for the Sole (Leadership)
- Student Engineering Council (Leadership)
- *Terry Scholar Student Association (Leadership)
- *Texas Ballroom (Learning, Discovery, Leadership, Responsibility and Individual Opportunity)
- *Texas Bluebonnets (Learning, Discovery, Leadership, Responsibility and Individual Opportunity)
- Texas Iron Spikes (Leadership)
- Texas Ladybirds (Individual Opportunity)
- Texas Public Health (Learning)
- Texas Spirits (Leadership)
- Texas Sweethearts (Learning)
- Texas Wranglers (Leadership and Responsibility)
- *The Project (Learning, Discovery, Leadership, Responsibility and Individual Opportunity)
- UT Archery (Individual Opportunity)
*Indicates organization won a drawing for $200 based on their accomplishments.
**Indicates organization won two drawings for $200 based on their accomplishments.
Pillars of the Forty Acres Exemplary Status
To achieve Exemplary Status in 2019-2020, an organization had to achieve Distinguished Status in five of the six Core Value categories.
2020 Recipients
- Alpha Epsilon Delta (Learning, Discovery, Leadership, Responsibility and Individual Opportunity)
- alpha Kappa Delta Phi (Learning, Discovery, Leadership, Responsibility and Individual Opportunity)
- *Camp Kesem (Learning, Discovery, Freedom, Leadership, Responsibility and Individual Opportunity)
- Disability Advocacy Student Coalition (Discovery, Freedom, Leadership, Responsibility and Individual Opportunity)
- Hindu Students Association (Learning, Discovery, Leadership, Responsibility and Individual Opportunity)
- Texas Ballroom (Learning, Discovery, Leadership, Responsibility and Individual Opportunity)
- Texas Bluebonnets (Learning, Discovery, Leadership, Responsibility and Individual Opportunity)
- *The Project (Learning, Discovery, Leadership, Responsibility and Individual Opportunity)
*Indicates organization won $1,000 in the Exemplary monetary drawing for their accomplishments.