My first community social obligation....

Tonight I attended the main fund-raising dinner for the local unit of the NAACP.  One of the other faculty members is on the board of one of the local hospitals, which hosted a table, and she invited me to fill an empty seat.  And even though it wasn't technically through my employer, I kept getting introduced as:

"This is Dr. Wendy Brame, the chair of the Sociology and Criminal Justice Department at Briar Cliff."

It weirded me out a little bit, I must say - I'm not really the type that is all into "making contacts" and such.  But it was really enjoyable overall, and I suppose if I've accepted the position as chair then I need to do my best at all the political jazz that comes along with it.  Dinners like these are not something I'd want to do every week, but it was at least a little bit fun to get all dressed up.  (I even did my hair...)

So we had a lovely dinner of salad and rolls, chicken, potatoes and green beans, and really incredible chocolate cake for dessert.  And water - since the other beverage choices were iced tea and coffee.  (This means I got to do my missionary duty as well as department chair duty.)  We had live jazz for dinner entertainment, and it was spectacular.  Then a very, very good speaker who chose to base her speech on W.E.B. DuBois (a sociologist!) and was quite motivational.  And finally scholarship presentations for local seniors.  I thought it was especially nice that they told us about the winners' classes and extracurricular activities, read us excerpts of the scholarship application essays and gave them a minute to say thank you, rather than just handing out certificates.

So that was my Saturday evening - far more social than I'm normally inclined to be.  But I did get a lovely dinner on real plates (a rarity with the kitchen torn up), and I did meet quite a few community people that I otherwise would not have.  It's fun to impersonate "Dr. Brame" every once in a while.  :)