The National Collegiate Leadership Conference

By Heather Roundtree, Center for Student Involvement & Leadership

This February the University of Arizona will host the 20th annual National Collegiate Leadership Conference. The National Collegiate Leadership Conference, formerly the Arizona Collegiate Leadership Conference, is a student-run annual conference that serves as the cornerstone of the leadership experience and training for hundreds of college students from the University of Arizona and institutions across the nation. The conference spans three days, offering over seventy workshops, community service projects, teambuilding and networking activities, motivational speakers, and a dinner with a nationally recognized keynote speaker.

The conference is open to all current and emerging college student leaders. Participants come from diverse backgrounds and, in past years, have come from over 30 institutions across the nation and internationally. The philosophy of the National Collegiate Leadership Conference is that service, social justice, and leadership are all connected. Thus, the programming for this conference offers students a variety of opportunities to learn, engage in, and reflect on service, social justice, and leadership.

It is our mission that we make this leadership development experience as accessible as possible.For this reason, the registration fee has been kept at only $50. This can only be made possible through the generous support of organizations that recognize the value of leadership development for today’s students. The University of Arizona Parents Association awarded the National Collegiate Leadership Conference a $6000 grant to support the 2008 conference. This funding has allowed the National Collegiate Leadership Conference to bring the nationally recognized keynote speaker, Herman Boone. Herman will share his inspirational story which was captured in the Disney film "Remember the Titans".  Though Coach Boone is now retired, he continues to motivate and inspire audiences with presentations on respect, teamwork, community involvement and the importance of character.

The skills that students learn from this conference can be applicable in student organizations, families, campuses, job settings, and local and global communities. Encourage your student to take advantage of this great opportunity right here on campus. To find out more information about the National Collegiate Leadership Conference or to register, visit www.union.arizona.edu/nclc. The early registration deadline is January 25, 2008. The final registration deadline is February 8, 2008. We appreciate the support of the University of Arizona Parents Association who help to make these types of innovative programs available for all of our students!

Heather Roundtree can be contacted via email at hroundtr@email.arizona.edu