Written by Bradley Bommarito
On Saturday, January 23, Leadership Roanoke and RC Student Activities hosted the Emerging Leaders Summit (ELS). This event was a day long workshop targeting freshmen, sophomores, and new student organization officers. The Emerging Leaders Summit is designed to educate and empower students to take on leadership roles at Roanoke College.
“Leadership Roanoke promotes the ‘Live on Purpose’ ideal by nurturing the leadership potential in Roanoke College student leaders and leading them to discover their particular gifts, talents, and skills. Leadership is a process, not a position, that can be enhanced through education, training, and development,” said Joe Boucher, Director of the Campus Center and Student Activities.
Participants completed Gallup’s StrengthsFinder assessment beforehand and then learned about the significance of their results. The second part of the program offered students the opportunity to develop practical skills and explore their personal leadership philosophy in workshops run by faculty and staff. Emerging Leaders Summit takes place in the spring after officer transitions in order to train and educate new leaders within organizations.
“I really liked the presentation on different styles of leadership put on by Mr. Mills and Mr. Rambo. They did a good job of providing context to the whole event, and characterized how a leader should think. I realized that if I was going to be serious about being a leader, I had to understand what people needed out of me, not just what I wanted out of them,” said sophomore Trevor McFall.
Student Affairs recently endeavored to revive the Leadership Roanoke program on campus. Dani Moore, Assistant Director of Student Activities and Colket Center, was responsible for developing the program and planning the student leadership summits.
“Many of the things I learned are straightforwardly applicable, like how the SGA budgeting system works, or how to get an event on the school calendar. That said, there were a number of broader themes about leadership that I found particularly interesting. I learned that leadership isn’t about holding a transitive, prestigious position at a company – it’s more about how you conduct yourself and influence others to reach their potential,” said McFall.
A followup to the ELS, the Advanced Leaders Summit, will be a day long workshop hosted this gall for juniors, seniors, and other student leaders. The focus of this student leader retreat is to reflect on the student’s current leadership role and develop a plan with personal learning goals to enhance the students leadership skills. Students will be asked to consider how to implement these skills outside of their organization and in their everyday lives. Successful student leaders will be asked to serve as facilitators for the next Emerging Leaders Summit.
