On April 9th, 2024 the Society of Female Scholars had its biggest event of the year, the Crowning Commencement. I, as a SOFS Co-Treasurer, am here to recap everything on what the event is, all the preparations for this day, and how it went!
This ceremony is to reward SOFS seniors who completed their 20 volunteer hours throughout their junior and or senior year, maintained a 3.5 GPA, and participated in club events. Seniors who meet these requirements are able to earn their pink cord which can be worn at graduation to show that they were active members of the club. We also give seniors a pink rose, a tiara, a graduation gift, and a certificate. Juniors who attend the ceremony get a half-way certificate which indicates eligibility for the pink scholar cord senior year. This event is huge for the Society of Female Scholars and the officer team and Mrs. Larios made it possible for all our wonderful members! Before we get into how the event went, let’s talk about all the preparations that went into making this event possible.
First, we had to figure out which seniors qualified for their pink cords based on whether or not they submitted their hours and if they attended a certain amount of meetings. Once that was done we sent out all the invitations and waited for the seniors to RSVP. One of the the hardest things we had to do was find a guest speaker which thankfully Mrs. Larios found. The next step was to order the pink cords, senior gift, roses, tiaras, pink tassels, the SOFS charm (for the tassels), and the raffle prizes. We also printed out the certificates for the seniors and juniors. The week before the ceremony, we attached the SOFS charm to the tassels and assembled the senior gift, which was a mason jar with a tiny yellow tassel. Overall, the preparation process for this event was a lot but it was so fun seeing it come together.
On the official day, all the SOFS officers met in the auditorium which is where the ceremony was held. We all arrived at 4:30 and we started decorating the lobby. We set the food table for all our guests which included sandwiches, mini bundt cakes of all flavors, and fruit. The ceremony began at 6:35 pm and it went so well! We had all the seniors line up and give their name cards to Katrina so they could walk across the stage to receive their cord, certificate, tiara, and rose. Juniors also got to walk across the stage to receive their half-way certificate. Then, we had our guest speaker, Shelby, come up on stage to give words of encouragement to our amazing SOFS members. After, we raffled our prizes, and Mrs. Larios and the new officer team gave the senior officers their cord, tiara, certificate, and rose. The Junior officers got their certificates as well! We concluded the ceremony by giving Mrs. Larios a gift from the officer team. Once the ceremony was over, guests enjoyed the remainder of the food and the photo booth.
In the end, our president felt that “being able to help plan and execute our (semi) newly annual SOFS Crowing Commencement Ceremony as President for the second year in a row was not only deeply rewarding but a true honor…The event itself is so beautiful and it makes me so happy to see the members being honored in a way they deserve! As I graduate and put SOFS into new hands, it is so rewarding to see this ceremonial event be left as a legacy to be continued for years to come!”
Overall, I would say that this ceremony was a huge success and the SOFS officer team was so thankful for everyone who was able to attend! Our secretary felt that “The SOFS crowning commencement event truly solidified the years of hard work and dedication the seniors put towards this club and their community service. We awarded the senior girls with certificates, their pink chord, tiaras, and a small gift, and juniors with a certificate for their halfway mark! Due to the dedication and cooperation of the Society of Female Scholars officers, it turned out to be a beautiful and memorable night, with drinks, food, and a photo booth to celebrate!”
