The tireless efforts of volunteers and public servants are not often rewarded with fancy cheese and live piano music. But last night, several student philanthropists were honored with these and more at the annual presentation of the James W. Lyons Awards for Service and the Dean of Students Outstanding Achievement Awards.

Ten student groups — out of nearly 600 on campus — and eight individuals were chosen to receive the accolades, which included plaques and medallions. These winners, according to Associate Dean of Students Morris Graves, represent the best of the best at Stanford.

Graves named equity, opportunity, caring and service as the four virtues embodied by the honorees.

“This community that we call Stanford nurtures a sense of inventiveness and an entrepreneurial spirit,” he said, adding that the night’s winners were the products of the values inherent to the University community.

In addition to the ceremony, the award recipients will also be recognized with a permanent display on the second floor of Tresidder Memorial Union, which will include even more photos and plaques.

The winning groups covered a broad spectrum, including fraternities and sororities, academic interest clubs, volunteer organizations and ethnic community groups. All of them, according to Dean of Student Affairs Greg Boardman, deserved applause for their “exceptional service on and off campus.”

The winners of the James W. Lyons Awards were senior Eric Shih; civil and environmental engineering graduate student Sarah Rubinfeld; sophomore Cammie Lee; chemistry graduate student Alice Lincoln; senior Arielle Cahill; senior co-term Jennifer Miller; medical student Moriah Thomason; and senior Josh Shipp.

Recipients of the Dean of Students Outstanding Achievement Awards were the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.; the Black Pre-Law Soiety; the Muslim Student Awareness Network; the Pacific Free Clinic; the Sigma Psi Zeta Sorority, Inc.; Stanford Beyond Bars; Stanford Chemistry Women’s Committee on Graduate Life; Stanford Dance Marathon; Stanford in Government; and Stanford Students for Relief.

Established in 1981, the James W. Lyons Award was created “to showcase the quality of the Stanford student body, which is absolutely precious,” said James W. Lyons, namesake of the award and dean emeritus of student affairs at the School of Education.

The Dean of Students Outstanding Achievement Award was established in 1999 and honors student groups for their joint efforts in the community. Both awards are administered by the Dean of Students Office.