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Pictured, from left, are Jake Foy, Gerry Salzman, Wayne Whipps, Carson Bloomberg, Cyle LaFollett and Kevin McCutchan.
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AGR Chapter Receives National Recognition at Annual Convention

August 22, 2018

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MACOMB, IL – The Western Illinois University Greek organization Alpha Gamma Rho (AGR) was recognized recently as a Gold Award chapter and their advisor was honored as one of the top in the country.

The awards were presented during the 65th AGR National Convention Aug. 2-5 in New Orleans, LA.

The Gold Award is the highest recognition a chapter can receive and is given to chapters who meet at least six of the seven requirements of academic excellence, lifelong membership development, continued alumni engagement, chapter crescents, recruitment excellence and communications. Twenty-three of the 77 national chapters received the recognition.

AGR chapter advisor and WIU School of Agriculture Professor Kevin Bacon was recognized with a high honor award during the convention, recognizing him, as one of the top three advisors in the country over the past year.

The WIU AGR chapter also received an honorable mention award for "best feature story" in the Alpha Tau Crescent magazine about its annual "Smokin' Hog" event.

"Much of what we were recognized for is what we do on an ongoing basis," said Bacon. "I was simply fortunate enough to have a leadership team that followed through on applying for the awards. I would like to offer special recognition to Tyler Wilson (Class of 2018) who headed up that team – without his leadership, I am not sure we could have pulled it off.  We also had several alumni board members writing letters of support and providing input to undergraduate members on specific sections of the application – it truly was a team effort."

Attending the bi-annual conference for WIU were AGR Alpha Tau Chapter members President Carson Bloomberg, a senior agriculture major from Moline, IL; Cyle LaFollett, a senior agriculture major from Maquon, IL; Kevin McCutchan, a senior agriculture major from Aledo, IL; and Jake Foy, a senior agriculture major from Taylor Ridge, IL, as well as alumni members Wayne Whipps, a 1977 agriculture graduate of Cedar Falls, IA, who was an alumni delegate and former chapter president, and Gerry Salzman, a 1971 agriculture economics graduate who is the current director of the National AGR Educational Foundation and a former chapter president.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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