This past weekend, as the president of Monmouth College’s Mortar Board, I had the honor of attending the 63rd Mortar Board National Conference held in Columbus, Ohio, alongside 92 other active collegiate members representing 68 different chapters. The Conference began on Friday, September 25th and went until the 27th. The first day was filled with get-to-know-you stuff and welcome activities.
Day two, the 26th, was when the business truly began. We started with attending regional meetings, where we talked about the more individual logistics and operations. Then we moved on to two educational sessions with multiple options that attendees could choose from. I attended The Pressure to Perform: Redefining Success and Well-being sesion, where we discussed how to make sure you are taking care of yourself and others in the face of academic and professional stress and pressure.
For the second session, I attended a panel titled Make Your Mark: Raising Your Chapters Campus Profile, where we heard from successful chapters on how they maintain a campus presence. We then had a keynote speech from Kathy Cleveland Bull titled The Good Life: Why Relationships Are Our Greatest Achievement.
Following lunch, we attended a mini expo where we received resources to help us build and grow our chapters, and one last educational block, where I attended another panel titled Bringing People In: Building a More Engaged Chapter. We got tips and advice from other successful chapters to help encourage participation of chapter members. Finally, the night ended with a candlelight banquet where various awards were handed out to chapters, alumni, and volunteers. The conference ended with a simple but impactful ceremony where chapter names were read out in the order of founding, and as your college’s name was read, you lit your candle.
On the final day, Sunday, September 27th, we ended with a final wrap-up with our regions before a closing with the whole conference.
