Senior honor society will honor professors at annual event Sunday

Mortar Board, the senior honor society, plans to recognize faculty at their annual Faculty Brunch this Sunday.

Mortar Board is a national honor society with chapters at universities across the country. Members are chosen in the spring of their junior year by a majority vote by the members of the current group. The organization, made up of 40 seniors, is highly commitment-based, with their main focus on service, graduate assistant Samantha Oliver said.

Oliver said since the organization’s inception, the Faculty Brunch has been one of their main events.

Each year group members nominate a faculty member that has made a difference in their lives to attend the brunch.

The nominee is then invited during their workday, so colleagues and students can see that they are honored.

“It’s a nice way to get out of the classroom and out of the office,” Oliver said.

Senior fashion merchandising major Stacey Thomas, who is co-chairing the brunch, said the event is also a networking event for members of the group.

“It’s just a great way to see the faculty that have inspired me and my peers,” she said.

Throughout the fall semester, Mortar Board has been involved in service projects throughout the area.

Oliver said they have raked leaves for an elderly couple in Ravenna, made blankets for a homeless shelter in Canton and a women’s shelter in Ravenna and they have also donated clothes to hospitals for the homeless people that are treated there.

Thomas said the organization has also been involved in several literacy programs including the organization’s national “Reading is Leading” project.

According to Mortar Board’s national Web site, the project is essentially a virtual book drive with $2 donated for a child to be provided with his or her very first book.

Thomas said they have just wrapped up selling raffle tickets, and the winner will be announced at the Greek Songfest. Proceeds from the raffle will be donated to one of the literacy projects.

Generally, Mortar Board does a literacy service project, but Thomas said the projects the organization does change with the members.

“It changes year to year, but the Faculty Brunch is what remains constant,” she said.

Oliver said juniors with over a 3.0 GPA are eligible, and they are accepting applications for next year.

The Faculty Brunch will be held from 10:30a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Seven Chairs.

For more information, contact Samantha Oliver at [email protected] or visit the Web site, www.mortarboard.org.

Contact student affairs reporter Meghan Bogardus at [email protected].