The L.E. Chandler Award of Excellence, named after the late Dr. L.E. Chandler, is allocated annually by the Past Presidents chapter of Southeastern’s Alumni Association to a faculty member, a staff member or an alumnus who has benefitted the university and its students in their extracurricular efforts.

The L.E. Chandler Award was presented to Amy Oberschmidt, M.Ed., L.P.C. and mental health counselor at the University Counseling Center (UCC). The award was presented at the Alumni Association’s Awards Evening, which was held at Twelve Oaks on Friday, Oct. 22.

Oberschmidt was chosen to receive the award due to her inclination to go above and beyond the responsibilities that her job at Southeastern requires.

“Her daytime job that she gets paid for is a counselor at the UCC, but she also volunteers her time and energy doing just about anything she can to help Southeastern students,” said Dr. Barbara Hebert, L.P.C.-S., director of the UCC and Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor.

Oberschmidt is involved in several different organizations and events at Southeastern, including the Student Leadership Conference, Cub Camp, LEAD retreat, the Women’s Empowerment Conference and the Athletic Pride Committee. She is also an honorary coach and coordinates and participates in public relations for the university through the Top 28 Tournament, a Louisiana high school basketball championship.

“Since 1996 I have been involved in leadership activities,” said Oberschmidt. “The other thing I do that’s very important to me is that I work with student-athletes through a program here called the Intercollegiate Athlete Counseling Program.”

Working with student-athletes constitutes a significant part of Oberschmidt’s life, and she acts as a second parent to the international student-athletes in particular, who are far from home and need emotional support.  

“The way I got started in that really was I became kind of the ‘team mom’ of the tennis team, who were all international, and I thought it was really impressive that they came all the way across the ‘big pond,’ the Atlantic, so that they could be successful,” said Oberschmidt. “I felt strongly that they needed to have someone that felt happy that they were here.”

After her assistance with the tennis team, Oberschmidt began to work with various athletic programs at Southeastern, working with the coaches, attending the games and promoting support for student-athletes.

“One of the things we know is that stress and time management are doubled for student-athletes, and there’s a misperception by non-athletes that student-athletes have it easy, like they get the classes they want,” said Oberschmidt. “But the privilege isn’t really here. They have very full schedules, and a lot of what I do is support them and tell them that what they’re doing now will really benefit them.”

Oberschmidt’s motivation for engaging herself in these activities lies behind her personal philosophy.

“My personal philosophy is that academic knowledge is very important, but life balance and people skills are equally important to be successful,” said Oberschmidt. “I could have all the academic knowledge in the world in my area of study, but if I don’t know how to get along with people and how to manage myself, then I won’t be very successful. This is one of the reasons why I think extracurricular activities, in moderation, are very important.”

Growing up with the Chandlers and being quite fond of them, Oberschmidt feels privileged to have received the L.E. Chandler Award, and she said that it encourages her to do more.

“I was really blown away when I got it because of what I do, even though a lot of it is done after hours in my job and very little of it happens during the work day, I just take it as part of my job,” said Oberschmidt. “So to be acknowledged for it, I felt very honored. This recognition tells me that what I’m doing is what I need to be doing and that I need to do more about it.”

Hebert expressed why she thought Oberschmidt was deserving of this award.

“Everything that Amy does is for Southeastern and for Southeastern students,” said Hebert. “She bleeds green and gold. When I think of Southeastern, I think of Amy Oberschmidt. She personifies everything that this school stands for, excellence and commitment.”