Walkathon raises dollars for scholars
Jang-Hwan Kwon admits he’s a quiet, unassuming type — until he’s asked to talk about the Concordia Shuffle. Then, his Clark Kent personality turns to Superman. “The Shuffle is my passion,” he says.
Kwon may not be the Man of Steel, but since 2011 he has heroically chaired the Concordia Shuffle advisory committee, a group of 11 volunteers dedicated to assuring the success of the annual walkathon.
Each year since 1990, hundreds of Concordia faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends have trekked the 6.5 kilometres between the Sir George Williams and Loyola campuses and in total have raised more than $1 million for scholarships and bursaries.
By day, Kwon isn’t a Daily Planet reporter. He’s manager of administrative systems in the Application Portfolio Management Group at Concordia’s Instructional and Information Technology Services. Yet he feels the event is super for the university. “The Shuffle perfectly embodies Concordia: it’s welcoming and open, and brings the whole community together for a great cause,” he says.
Most of the current advisory committee members have been together for the past two years. While Advancement and Alumni Relations runs the nuts and bolts of the event, Kwon explains that the committee’s role is to brainstorm for new ways to promote the Shuffle, organize volunteers to help register participants and approach and secure sponsors for much-cherished prizes.
This year, Shufflers can win an Apple iPad, airline tickets and about 50 other goodies.
Ellie Hummel, chaplain and coordinator with Concordia’s Multi-faith Chaplaincy, was asked to join the committee last year, and immediately agreed. “The Shuffle has a special place in my heart,” she says. “I arrived at the university in 1999, and the Shuffle was the first event I participated in. It made a great first impression. It’s a powerful way to raise funds.”
Like Kwon, Hummel believes the event is a great community builder. “Everyone there —students, faculty, staff and others — is an equal, all walking together with our T-shirts.”
She also enjoys being part of the committee. “It works with my personality. We collaborate to come up with crazy ideas.”
One such idea is to raise student participation through an increased social media presence. It therefore made sense to bring on board Melissa Lemieux, a recent BComm graduate who’s now pursuing her accountancy certificate at the John Molson School of Business.
“I found out about the committee last year though C.A.S.T [Concordia Alumni Student Team]. I would have joined sooner if I knew, because I love to volunteer for Concordia,” she says.
A few months ago, Lemieux created a Facebook Shuffle 23 event page, which she regularly updates with news and encouragement to register. She also recently began to tweet about the Shuffle. She’s optimistic that the student participation will rise thanks to these new strategies.
Kwon and his team won’t know the results of their efforts until the day of the event, but he does guarantee one thing: “We’re going to be having one blast of a party.”
Shuffle 23 kicks off on Friday, September 28 at 1 p.m. in the Abe and Harriet Gold Atrium of the Engineeering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Integrated Complex (1515 Ste-Catherine St. W.). It is followed by the President's Picnic and the awarding of prizes.
Related links:
• Concordia Shuffle
• Concordia University Shuffle 23 on Facebook