Union’s autumn recognitions
In early autumn, the union awarded distinguished community members with Kelpo Teekkari titles and merit badges.
At the annual celebration, the following individual was awarded a merit badge:
Atte Sinkkonen
Atte has done an exceptional amount of meaningful work for the fuksi education of Tampere's teekkari community. As the minister of fuksis, he boldly led the fuksi council in an increasingly international direction. In addition to this, Atte demonstrated a sincere desire to develop Tampere's teekkarifuksi activities by drafting a Tutoring Guide for teekkari tutors and fuksi officials, which provides guidance from campus etiquette to the cornerstones of teekkari culture.
After his year as the minister of fuksis, Atte continued to contribute to the development of fuksi education through new projects and by actively supporting younger fuksi officials. Atte's impact on the fuksi education of the Teekkari Union of Tampere will be clearly visible for many years to come.
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The recipients of the Kelpo Teekkari titles, along with the reasoning, are:
Aaro Varjus
Aaro has been the bedrock of the campus band scene for the past few years. In the first weeks of his freshman year, he joined the fuksi band of Hiukkanen, which is still alive and well under the name Gin Tonikka. However, Aaro didn’t settle for just that, as during his tutor year, he took the lead in directing the next year’s Hiukkanen fuksi band.
Aaro is a skilled technician, and in a short time, he has gained extensive knowledge of sound and lighting technology, raising the standard of teekkari band performances to the level they deserve.
Aaro is always ready to support others in matters related to his expertise, often stepping in on short notice to save band performances. It’s safe to say that countless gigs would have gone unplayed without Aaro's valuable contribution.
Nina Kovanen
During her long organizational career, Nina has held all the most significant board positions. Over the years, she has been active and helpful, working more than could ever be expected. Yet year after year, she remains as active as ever, finding herself doing extra tasks and doing nakkis like someone pursuing the superfuksi title.
Nina is not daunted by responsibility and is always ready to take on tasks that would make even seasoned veterans break a sweat. She handles everything with a relaxed attitude from start to finish, saving many board members from difficult situations one after another.
While serving on the board of the Teekkari Union, Nina was primarily responsible for establishing a dialogue with the university administration, the benefits of which help develop the teekkari activities in Tampere day by day.
Mika Pajala
Mika is the driving force behind the advocacy for engineering students. He has been advancing educational policy as TiTe's education policy representative, as a student representative on the faculty council, and within the student union’s council of representatives. He was mainly responsible for establishing TiTe’s education policy committee and showed his fellow guild members that educational policy can be both important and fun.
In 2024, Mika brought his educational policy expertise to the use of the entire campus, reviving the activities of “teekkarikopot” and working on a public statement to preserve language studies.
At the same time, he maintains a relaxed approach and spreads good vibes and enthusiasm for developing a multitude of activities.
Ada Grundström
Ada has done a tremendous amount of work in recent years to promote teekkari song culture. She sings both rather and well, while also encouraging every teekkari and teekkari-minded person to participate in the song culture.
Ada has had a long career serving the Teekkari Choir, contributing significantly to the continuous development of an already high-quality association. Ada has been an active performer in Teekkarikvartti, both at annual celebrations and elsewhere.
Ada is one of the pioneers of songmaster activities. She was practically YKI’s first songmaster, and thanks to her, the songmaster tradition at YKI is still alive and thriving. Ada has also made her mark as a songmaster in the Teekkari Section, in the YKI band, in the Musical Club of Teekkaris of Tampere, and in Platine, leaving her imprint on the entire music culture of Hervanta.
Albert Iho
Albert is every event organizer’s dream volunteer. Rumor has it that by now, he has volunteered at the annual celebrations of every guild in Hervanta at least twice.
As a volunteer, Albert is extremely efficient and considerate. Often, he fixes problems before the organizer even notices they exist. Albert is so skilled that he sometimes even instructs unexpected parties on the proper ways of doing things.
Albert never gets discouraged. He is always overwhelmingly positive and encouraging. As a volunteer, he is self-sacrificing, always taking on the toughest tasks so others can have it a bit easier.
Albert also promotes cross-campus cooperation by offering his expertise to organizations in the city center campus.
Henri Prusi
Henri does his best to build a teekkari community where no one is ever left alone with their problems. He doesn’t care too much about job boundaries and is always ready to do more than his task list requires. Henri selflessly offers his time exactly where it’s most needed.
Whatever is required, Henri clears his schedule to make others' lives easier. He finishes tasks so thoroughly that, defying the clock and others' suggestions, he continues working even when others rush off to other jobs.
Henri builds a strong culture of getting things done, kickstarting tasks while others are still debating whether or not to act. He is proud of being a teekkari and actively shares the joy of teekkari culture both in Tampere and beyond.
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In addition to these, awards were presented by other entities at the anniversary gala of the Teekkari Union:
TTY alumni awarded the Musical Club of Teekkaris of Tampere with the Sampo reward, also known as Teekkari Act of the Year.
The Teekkari Foundation of Tampere awarded the sauna project team with awards. The awarded team members are Jusa Pietilä, Nella Rajala, Aleksi Jokela, and Lauri Sahramaa.