Key Chapter Winner Highlight: Concordia University

For our final post on our 2012-2013 Key Chapter winners, we would like to highlight Concordia University for being bestowed this honor.
During the 2012-2013 academic year, the Concordia University chapter hosted numerous events that pertained to academics, leadership and service. For the fall, the chapter held numerous fundraisers, most of which were to benefit the community. One of these was a toy drive that was hosted by the chapter’s advisor, Brent Pearce, and the chapter also put on a “Comedy for a Cause” fundraiser to go towards providing a holiday experience for underprivileged members of the community. One cause that means a lot to the chapter is Robin des Bois, which is a  non-profit restaurant in Montreal in which the employees are supported by volunteers and all proceeds are donated to local, charitable organizations, such as Le Chainon, Le Refuge des Jeunes, Jeunesse Au Soleil and Santropol Roulant. In the fall, the Concordia University chapter based their Make a Difference Day event around this restaurant, and they held a a separate volunteer event later in the year to assist the employees of the restaurant.
One of the larger initiatives that the Concordia University Golden Key chapter put on was their collaborative effort of hosting the Canadian Regional Summit (CANCON) in January 2013. The chapter, along with the McGill University chapter, co-hosted the event, which brought in students from all four corners of Canada. To start off the Summit, approximately forty students participated in a one-of-a-kind ‘Amazing Race’. Led by a local student, the race consisted of eight pit-stops that the participants had to find using the city’s metro system, the McGill library, Museum of Beaux Arts and other city landmarks. Later that evening, all of the delegates met at a local pub for a warm, social gathering to enjoy some drinks and famous poutine! The students were then invited to participate in Igloofest, which is an outdoor music festival in the Old Port of Montreal which now draws in tens of thousands of people annually. The following day, the conference began with a speech from the Keynote speaker. In an attempt to keep things ever-changing, the chapters decided to structure the conference somewhat differently by having six panels with three speakers each that focused on various subject matters. That evening was the banquet dinner and Sunday morning the students said their farewells over brunch. Overall, the Summit was an incredible success, largely due to the hard work of the co-host chapters.
Congratulations to the Concordia University chapter for their successful efforts and for being named a 2012-2013 Key Chapter!