We are happy to announce Erin Kawamata, Administrative Manager of Dining Services with Student Affairs at WSU Pullman, as a Crimson Spirit Award Recipient.

Erin’s nominators had many great things to say about her. Erin Kawamata is an outstanding member of the dining team. She serves as Administrative Manager for a department which employs 90 fulltime employees and 600 student employees. She is generous, diligent, funny, and kind. She brings empathy to a demanding and sometimes hectic workplace every day.

Over the past 4 years, she has stepped up to every challenge presented. The challenges of COVID, and the journey post-COVID could not have been navigated without her positive approach and strength of character. She took the lead for dining on the implementation of Workday, tenaciously and patiently advocating for solutions that meet the needs of dining. Dining continues to benefit from her expertise as our Workday SME, as do other departments within Student Affairs who call on her to assist with training of new employees with similar responsibilities.

Erin is thorough and detail-oriented with her work. She has a high capacity to manage multiple, detail oriented projects and tasks simultaneously. This is critically important with the number of employees in dining, the number of vacancies, and all the work it takes to support payroll, HRS functions, and searches. After a period of significant staff turnover, she has tirelessly supported over 60 searches.

Erin creates an environment that is safe, fun, and professional. She is genuinely interested in the well-being of our team and the students we serve. She is timely acknowledging the great work of others, and she models our standards of service excellence every time she responds to students or parents who have questions or concerns. Erin is a committee colleague and it is a great pleasure to work with Erin. She is deserving of this recognition and comes with my highest recommendation.

Another nominator states, Erin remains calm in a chaotic environment with relentless understaffing. She continually anticipates administration’s needs and always asks questions if she isn’t completely certain about something. She is always creative and encourages a well-rounded team environment. I know she is a critical and supportive member to the Dining Services Administrative Staff.

Erin Kawamata is a genuine, hardworking, dedicated employee to WSU and Dining Services and consistently goes above and beyond to ensure the continued success of the department she works for.

Erin has a kind, pleasant demeanor and the care that she pours into her work is obvious in the outcomes. I most recently had the pleasure of working with Erin on a search for a high-level dining position. Erin was incredibly organized and supportive through all phases of the search process keeping the committee advised promptly of updates, changes, etc. and ensuring we had all the support we needed. I really enjoyed Erin’s demonstrated care to the process and incredible attention to detail, all while getting tasks done with superhuman efficiency.

“Erin is a rock star! Such a wonderful person deserving of recognition for her consistent dedication to WSU – she definitely embodies the Crimson Spirit!”