Students Hone Leadership Skills Before Spring Semester Begins

The annual Leadership Conference, open to all Holy Cross students, will be held on Jan. 12 in the Hogan Campus Center. Cassandra Chapel ’09, a music major with a peace and conflict studies concentration from Savannah, Ga., who is helping to organize the event with the help of Brenda Hounsell Sullivan, director of Orientation, Transition, and Leadership, gives us more details on the conference and its title, “Aptissimi.”

WHAT IT IS Held right before spring semester begins, students are invited to explore, develop and articulate their personal leadership styles. The experience provides a forum for thoughtful consideration of leadership traits, beliefs and ideals. Dialogue helps broaden the definition of leadership and relates it to students’ everyday lives.

COME ONE, COME ALL “The conference is open to all students from any class year who are interested in developing their personal abilities in leadership whether they are new leaders, experienced leaders, or somewhere in between,” says Chapel. “Hence the theme ‘aptissimi,’ which comes from a Jesuit philosophy of developing “as many as possible of the very best.”

HEROIC SPEAKER Chris Lowney, author of the acclaimed book, Heroic Leadership: Best Practices from a 450-Year-Old Company That Changed the World, in which he offers leadership lessons from the Jesuits, will give a talk at 11 a.m.

WHY HIM “I saw Chris Lowney speak at the National Jesuit Student Leadership Conference in Seattle this past summer, and I recommended him as a great option for a speaker for this leadership conference,” says Chapel. “I thought that what he has to say about the qualities of Jesuit leadership — love, heroism, aptissimi, among others — and how these can be used in the personal leadership of Holy Cross students already exposed to the benefits of a Jesuit education would be a perfect fit for the conference.”

OTHER SPEAKERS The conference features administrators, faculty, and staff from departments across campus. Presenters include Bill Gibbons, head coach of women’s basketball; Alice Laffey, associate professor of religious studies; Jennie Germann Molz, assistant professor of sociology; Kristine Cyr Goodwin, associate dean for student life; Mable Millner, assistant dean and director of multicultural education; and Margaret A. Post, director of the Donelan Office of Community-Based Learning.

WHY ATTEND “I think it’s really important for students to have these leadership experiences, not just for the typical ‘resume builder’ but more so for personal development and better understanding of self,” explains Chapel. “Leadership experiences are important to becoming involved in one’s community and then also finding what one’s passion is or what thing one cares about most. Through passion and a sincere care in leadership, I believe it’s that much easier to be innovative and able to truly create change in an organization, group, or community for the better.”

Related Information:

• Cassandra Chapel ’09 reflects on what she learned at National Jesuit Student Leadership Conference • Office of Orientation, Transition and Leadership