>snip>
>Let me come at this from a slightly different direction. I was on the scholarship committee for a trade organization for a while. Not a major organization (keep this in mind). The first time I sat in on their annual meeting to review scholarship applications, I got an education myself. There was this one particular HS senior whose application and record were glowing. I said wow, how can we not make her one of the recipients? One of the other committee members, vastly more experienced than me, said here's what you're not getting. She's got scholarships up the ying yang already, she said, and she was bound for college the day she was born. What we are trying to do here is make a difference. I bristled at being dressed down, in front of a group no less, but she was right.

Except the UT are not offering a scholarship to the winner and the awards of Personality of the Year will probably not materially enhance the recipients future prospects. It is purely a recognition by the community to those who have helped the community. I think your example is not relevant. Perhaps it would be better named "Contributer of the Year" or the "Who's your Daddy award" :)