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Mortar Board's 94th birthday is February 15!

Mortar Board Week is the national celebration of our Society’s founding. It is a great time to draw attention to your chapter with a campus event.

Chapters often plan at least one activity during Mortar Board Week, though some even plan daily activities. Make sure you take advantage of this time to:

Spread the word about Mortar Board
Whether you choose to create a display in the student union, wear chapter t-shirts, advertise in the student newspaper, or "chalk" sidewalks, there are dozens of ways to raise your chapter's visibility on campus during Mortar Board Week.

Recruit, recruit, recruit
Depending on your chapter's selection and recruitment schedule, you may be able to use Mortar Board Week as part of your recruitment strategy. Mortar Board Week can be an ideal time to promote Mortar Board membership through information sessions, meeting with potential members or sharing application forms.

Serve your campus
Honoring Mortar Board's ideal of service is a great way to commemorate the Society's founding. Many chapters plan campus service events, or take the opportunity to meet with nearby Mortar Board chapters in a section project.  

Be social
Give members the chance to celebrate Mortar Board's founding. Social events can be open to all students, alumni, prospective members or active members.

Find resources online
Find resources to help you with your planning and publicity. Check out our Visibility Resources Folder of materials (including logos, fliers, press release templates and e-postcards) to help your chapter publicize Mortar Board Week.

Fellowship applications due January 31

Planning to go to graduate school? Each year, the Mortar Board National Foundation awards fellowships to members who pursue further study in graduate or professional school.  Thousands of dollars in fellowships will be awarded to Mortar Board members for the 2012-2013 academic year. 

The selection process is managed by the Mortar Board Fellowship Selection Committee, which reviews all completed applications in an extensive two-phase reading process.

Completed applications are due on or before January 31, 2012. There are three parts to the application, and all three must be received by the deadline. Read more about the fellowships and find out how to apply.

Membership selection resources

Membership Selection Handbook

You know how important the selection of a new class is to your chapter! Keep in mind these important steps as you prepare for the upcoming selection season:

Prepare
Use the selection timeline you reported in your Chapter Action Plan. You can find great resources to help you plan for selection on our website.

Recruitment and selection
Don’t forget to take advantage of faculty and staff during your recruitment process! Make sure they are aware of your application process and timelines. They know the superstars in their departments and the leaders of other student groups on campus.

Reporting
Before you can tap new members, you must submit your Official Membership Report (OMR) to the National Office for approval. Be sure you know how to fill out the OMR. Please remember to email it at least two weeks prior to your tapping!

Tapping
Tapping is a time-honored tradition of our Society, dating back before the birth of Mortar Board to the founding of its oldest chapter at Cornell University.  The term, taken from the literal act of tapping a new member with a mortarboard, has become synonymous with Mortar Board.  For many alumni, one of their fondest Mortar Board memories is how they were publicly tapped.

Orientation
Orientation, a step required in the national Bylaws, helps to educate potential members and transition your chapter year after year. Your orientation should inspire, motivate, instill pride and inform new members of chapter obligations.

Initiation
Initiation should be a special, memorable ceremony that members and their families can look back on fondly for many years to come. The Initiation Ceremony Booklet, complete with sheet music for Mortar Board’s songs and a script of the national initiation ceremony, will guide your chapter to success.

Share your selection tips, strategies and success!
Does your chapter have a proven selection strategy? Or, are you doing something new this year? Do you have a question you'd like to bounce off other chapter leaders? Share your selection questions or strategies on the LeadingLeaders Facebook page.

And, post your tapping and initiation photos to our national Facebook page so that the entire Mortar Board community can celebrate your success in selecting a new class!

Reminder: changes to the 2012 Mortar Board National Conference

You should have received a recent email explaining travel expectations for the 2012 National Conference.

Please read through the explanation to make sure you fully understand it. If you have any questions, please contact your section coordinatoror the National Office.

Updated Virtual Book Drive results

We have received updated information since we first reported the outcomes of the 2011 Mortar Board Virtual Book Drive. In all, over $28,000 was raised during the drive -- that is enough to provide more than 10,000 books to children in need!

The total funds raised by each chapter have also been updated. The updated results for the top three chapters are:

If you still need to wrap up any details from your chapter's participation, please refer to the December LeadingLeaders for steps you should take.

Congratulations again on the success of this significant project!