Concordia's Garnet Key Society remains strong during the pandemic
For more than six decades, Concordia’s Garnet Key Society has helped to promote a positive image of the university and its students.
Each year, a new cohort of undergraduate students is chosen to form the Garnet Key. The successful applicants have to be active in the community and in high academic standing.
As young leaders, the 12 members of the society complete their year-long mandate as ambassadors at formal events. The Garnet Keys also undertake volunteer initiatives around the university and greater Montreal — anything from mental health projects, participating in soup kitchens, or raising awareness for sustainability programs.
"Becoming a Garnet Key, for me, was really important because it allowed me to give back to Concordia for all that it did for me and to give back to fellow Concordians" says Madeleine Dawn, the society's vice-president.
The personalities that make up the Garnet Key Society develop their own unique sense of comradery. And amidst the COVID-19 pandemic this quality has only grown stronger, says the society's president Sage Duquette.
"It's been an anchor for me to have a group and a support system that I can refer to and rely on for anything,” he says. “It's given me a sense of community that you can't find when you're just forging friendships in class.”
With its members continuing to surmount the challenges of the pandemic, the future of the Garnet Key Society remains bright.
