Alpha Chi National Conference

This year's Alpha Chi National Conference met in the Hyatt Regency in Indianapolis, Indiana, from Thursday to Saturday, April 3-5. Every two years, Alpha Chi organizes a National Conference.

And this year's gathering drew over 400 student scholars, many of whom gave presentations over the course of the conference. Alpha Chi focuses on students, and consequently no faculty members present papers at these gatherings: only students, who also receive prizes in many categories for their efforts.

Fitting in very well with this year's focus on and efforts in support of literacy, Children's author and poet, David L. Harrison, gave a inspiring keynote address on the power of the individual to make a significant effect on literacy.

Give his web page a look, and you will realize why I will work hard to ensure that we bring David to Peru State College to talk with all of us.

He even has a poem for the "beloved" tick" "a tick's friends"

A tick has
no friends.

Therefore,

my story

ends. (From Bugs Poems about Creeping Things)

And Alpha Chi underscored what David insists about the need for active involvement in the community to increase literacy.

This year's theme, Literacy 500, centered on a service event that met with tremendous success. The society challenged everyone to bring at least one children's book to the conference to support the literacy project and to receive for their efforts a free t-shirt.

Well, our hope of collecting 500 books resulted in over 2,000 texts, as this photograph of the green-shirted adorned Alpha Chi members underscores:
To deliver the books, fifteen students and a number of faculty went to the Children's Hospital.

And at Riley Hospital for Children, Alpha Chi members treated the youngsters to books, cookies, a coloring station, a chance to make book marks and picture frames, book readings, and a chance to meet Clifford--and this pooch is a huge hit.

I posted some photographs (Download what appeals to you) of our uplifting and heartbreaking visit to the hospital.

You can also view a photo film on You Tube of the event at the hospital (Make sure to click HQ for High Quality:

These youngsters inspire, and the hospital will make great use of the gifts Alpha Chi provided.


Much more, of course, went on at the National Convention, including the opening night banquet on Thursday, which, after an excellent meal and keynote address previously mentioned, included some instruction in Line Dancing and other fun.

I posted as well a series of photographs that try to capture some of the general conference activities, from meetings and presents to pictures of friends and the new stadium.

Part of the pleasure these of these national meetings comes from meeting old friends and making new ones--and celebrating in the success of those you know.

This year, for example, David Jones, Alpha Chi Sponsor of Westminster College in Region IV, where Peru State Resides, got elected to the Alpha Chi National Council.

And Evangel University of Region IV--where last year's regional conference took place, in Springfield, MO--won Alpha Chi's highest chapter award, The President's Cup.


I posted photographs of all the awards from the meeting on Saturday morning so that people can download any images they want. The files are quite large so you will have no trouble making 8 X 10 prints for your collections.

I will continue to edit this page and perhaps had some additional material.

Enjoy the links and look into Alpha Chi. We will induct a new group of students into Alpha Chi at Peru State on 19 April.