Monmouth College Greek Week banquet is first in series of virtual celebrations
Monmouth, Ill. (04/02/2020) — Although Monmouth College has postponed or canceled the remainder of the school year's events because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the College is replicating spring on campus by producing virtual events of the semester's major celebrations of student achievement.
First up: Monmouth's annual Greek Week banquet, which has moved to an online watch party and will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, April 3. The watch party will be held live on the College's main Facebook page (facebook.com/MonmouthCollege). The event will be posted later that evening on the College's YouTube channel (youtube.com/monmouthcollege).
Traditionally the culminating event of a week-long celebration of fraternity and sorority life on campus, the banquet is normally held before a packed house in the Main Dining Room of the College's Stockdale Student Center. Its purpose is to honor the Greek life individuals and organizations that excelled during the past year. Fraternity and sorority members are nominated for individual awards, highlighting their leadership in the community.
"The fraternity and sorority members had a very productive year in 2019, raising funds for their philanthropy, programming creatively, and providing educational components to help their members be academically successful," said Associate Vice President for Student Life Karen Ogorzalek. "These successes should be celebrated. And we are so excited to celebrate those successes with this unique awards ceremony. The live watch party will pull everyone together and keep the fraternal spirit alive from across the country, which is so important at this time - to stay connected and lift each other up."
The Fraternity and Sorority Life Awards is a reflection of the resiliency and passion that surrounds the Greek community," said Assistant Director of Student Engagement Kris Clayton. "We hope that this adaptation will honor those characteristics along with our students' success."
In lieu of applause for the award recipients, Ogorzalek said "we hope to see plenty of comments and cheers scrolling as the awards are presented."
The Greek Week banquet is the first of many virtual spring events that the College will produce, including Honors Convocation. Another event which already has a strong social media presence, the annual Scots Day of Giving, will go on as planned April 16, with modifications made to respond to social distancing practices.
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A scene from last spring's Greek Week banquet at Monmouth College.