The National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) announced today that its 55th Annual Conference, scheduled for November 4-8, 2020, in Dallas, Texas, will not be held in-person at the Dallas Sheraton Hotel due to public health concerns related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

NCHC will be working with scheduled presenters and partners to deliver a reimagined series of virtual events throughout the remainder of 2020 that will provide NCHC’s members and attendees with the valuable content and conversation they receive at the annual in-person event. Registration information, specific dates, and content for this series of events will be shared with the honors community in June as planning continues and virtual events are developed.

“The NCHC Board of Directors, our staff, and our conference planners have carefully discussed the many aspects of our annual conference experience, and we have made the difficult decision to forego our in-person event and convert 2020’s conference into a virtual experience for our members and partners,” said NCHC President Elaine Torda. “We were excited to create another successful and memorable conference in Dallas this year, but public health and safety of our attendees and volunteers outweighed any other factors for our organization. We also realize that many campuses may not be able to release students and faculty for travel in the fall of 2020, so we are quickly building a plan to distribute virtual content throughout the year that will engage and benefit the honors community.”

“2020’s conference planning was off to a very successful start, and we want to thank each person who submitted a proposal to present research in Dallas,” said 2020 Conference Chair Suketu Bhavsar. “The 2020 theme of ‘Big Hearts, Big Minds’ remains relevant as we look for ways to serve all our members in the wake of disrupted plans by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are embracing innovative options for presenters to be involved in our virtual events in 2020 and will have more details for them in the coming weeks.” NCHC Executive Director Mary Beth Rathe added, “We are fully committed to providing dynamic and valuable content for our members through a new online format. Attendees at NCHC’s virtual events can look forward to much of the same great material that NCHC delivers through its Signature Programs at Annual Conference, but in a format that allows for much more flexibility in attendees’ schedules and budgets.”

NCHC and their partners in Dallas were in close communication as travel and large gathering restrictions developed in the state of Texas. Due to the number of unknown issues related to public containment of the coronavirus, and the national and international travel typical of NCHC’s annual event, all parties decided that changing the 2020 event was the safe and responsible choice. Planners successfully renegotiated the meeting contract between NCHC and the Dallas Sheraton Hotel, and Dallas is confirmed to be the site of NCHC’s Annual Conference in 2022. The 2021 Annual Conference will remain in Orlando, Florida at the Swan & Dolphin Hotel, as previously contracted.

Further details about NCHC’s 2020 Virtual Events will be communicated as soon as they are finalized, and will be updated on NCHC’s website, nchchonors.org.