2023 AO Toronto Convention Summary

2023 AO Toronto Convention Program Book

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Read Marvin's Address

MARVIN SONNE INSTALLED AS THE AO 2023-24 INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT IN TORONTO

Marvin Sonne gave this speech to AO members, friends, family, and colleagues during the 2023 Honors Night celebration on Sunday, June 25, 2023.

My Dear AO Family and Honored

Guests,

Thank you for the honor and

privilege of becoming your International President. And especially here in

Toronto, the city of my mother's family. Toronto is the city that we often

vacationed to when I was growing up. And that was long before the 401 Hwy

existed. It was either a drive on Highway 2 or the train, which was fast if we

made it in 6 hours. Toronto has a very special place in my heart. The same

heart that your Terry Shapero, of blessed memory, always described as having a

tattoo of AO.

It is great to be together again

in 2023 with our AO Family, as we have not had a convention since 2019.

Gail Schupak Addressed Honors Night Event Guests in Her Final Presidential Message

2022-23 AO International President gave her last presidential address during the Toronto Convention Honors Night ceremony and dinner on Sunday, June 25, 2023.

For the first half of the 20th century, American universities were rife with antisemitism. Jews who wished to belong to esteemed dental fraternities were met with closed doors, not open arms. They were not only unwelcome, but they were also picked on, and quotas prevented qualified Jewish candidates from attending many dental schools. Jews had no choice but to take up their cause, and a group of Jewish dental students in Baltimore and another in Philadelphia founded their dental fraternities to counter this antisemitism. Over the years, many such groups were founded to become Alpha Omega in dental schools across the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Israel.

As we grew as a force in organized dentistry, we became the first dental fraternity to counter sexism and racism.

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