With classes canceled for the day, students will be free to attend Dialogos, formally known as Scholars Symposium, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 26, to support their classmates who will be presenting their academic projects to faculty.

Students can enter projects they’ve done for class or projects for extracurricular activities, like band or theater.

Freshman Fiona McAllister is entering a project from her nutrition class. She believes that although the process took a large amount of work, it will help her in the future.

“I want to do research in my upper-level years, and this was a good way for me to get my foot in the door,” McAllister said.

The first half of the day will feature scheduled presentations given by students to their peers and faculty members, while the second half of the day is made up of a gallery of presentations where students stand by their posters and answer questions.

In previous years, presentations were judged in order to give out awards at the end of the event. However, awards were taken out this year because it is an “apples and oranges thing,” said Dialogos Committee Chair Chris Todden.

Because the presentations vary widely in content and format, it was hard to determine who truly won. Students who participate this year will only receive feedback from faculty.

The event will also feature a keynote speaker. The speaker is chosen by a different department each year, with the only requirement being that the speaker is a Baker alum.

This year’s speaker is Lydia Krebs, a 2003 graduate who is now a lawyer and clerk for Judge Nancy L. Moritz of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.

Todden said having a keynote speaker gives alumni “a chance to come back” which is great for those that don’t live close to Baker’s campus.

Participating in Dialogos allows students to display work and interact with people in different majors. It also allows faculty to see what their students do outside of class.

For Todden, the event’s positive factors strongly outweigh the amount of work he puts into it.

“Without question, the pride of the students is my favorite part,” Todden said. “As a matter of fact, I hope they let me have this position for the rest of my time at Baker, because as much work as it is, as much work as it is for the students and as challenging as it is, when they are up there presenting their work, what they have done, it can’t be touched.”