Chimes Junior Honorary kicks off a weeklong series of events today, with the hopes of raising the organization’s profile on campus and in the larger St. Louis community.
This year, the group is sponsoring a series of events including a Krispy Kreme breakfast this morning; Taking it Back to the Court on Tuesday, where members will be serving dinner at Center Court; Poker Night in Village House on Wednesday; Happy Hour in the Gargoyle on Thursday; and a community service event Saturday at the St. Louis Foodbank.
Some events, such as handing out Krispy Kreme doughnuts at the underpass and law school steps, are the same from year to year. This year’s group also created new events in the hopes of getting more juniors involved.
“We’re trying to have the week be a reinvigorating event for the junior class,” said junior Raumesh Akbari. “We’re an honorary, but we’re also based in community service, so we’re trying to get out in the community more.”
One way the organization plans to do this is through the event at the St. Louis Foodbank, which is new on the schedule this year. It is open to all students, with shifts available from 12 to 3 p.m. and 3 to 6 p.m on Saturday.
The group will continue with community service activities throughout the remainder of the year as well. According to Chimes Secretary Adrienne Ford, the group plans to start working at a juvenile detention center.
“We’re looking to volunteer at a juvenile detention center and making that an ongoing project throughout the year,” Ford said. “We’re still formulating our plans for next spring.”
Chimes, which is comprised of 15 students from the junior class, also sponsors a scholarship for a deserving junior with an interesting internship opportunity who might need additional help with housing during the experience. Proceeds from the Poker Night will go directly to the scholarship fund.
According to Chimes Treasurer Pam Bookbinder, the poker event should be one of the biggest draws of the week. There will be a $10 buy-in, with the winner taking 15 percent of the prize money home; second and third-place participants will receive 10 percent and five percent of the winnings, respectively.
“We expect the highest turnout at either the Poker Night or the Center Court event,” Bookbinder said. “We’re hoping to get more juniors that now live on the North Side or off-campus back on the 40.”
While most of the events remain focused on the junior class, Chimes is also trying to reach out to freshmen and sophomores and further increase awareness of their organization on campus.
“Anyone can come to our events,” said Ford. “We’re trying to make the juniors more aware of our presence on campus and also make other students, mainly sophomores, aware of the organization if they want to apply in the spring.”