The Center for Ethical Leadership at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs will present the seventh annual Hatton W. Sumners Undergraduate Student Leadership Conference, a critical part of the Center’s mission to develop leaders for tomorrow, from Feb. 25 through 28 at The University of Texas at Austin.
The conference brings together student leaders with educators and leaders who can share their leadership experiences and insights. The conference hopes to inspire undergraduate students to seek or accept leadership responsibilities as their contribution to society, to increase awareness of current and emerging leadership challenges and to develop a network of students to support future collaboration.
Mary Robinson, the first female president of Ireland and formerly the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, will open the conference on Feb. 25 in an event open to the public. Other conference speakers include Howard Prince, director of the Center for Ethical Leadership and retired brigadier general in the U.S. Army; Raj Sisodia, professor of marketing at Bentley University; and Melissa Stockwell, first female amputee from Operation Iraqi Freedom and the first Iraqi War veteran to qualify for the Paralympics.
Not only will students be given the opportunity to hear from inspirational speakers with diverse backgrounds, they will learn from graduate student team leaders through small group sessions designed to enhance personal leadership effectiveness. Twelve graduate school students, including seven students from the LBJ School, will be team leaders.
“The heart and soul of the conference is the role of team and workshop leader,” Prince said. “Several LBJ graduate students have been training since mid-January for this critical role. We are looking forward to another meaningful and rewarding experience for the students participating in the Hatton W. Sumners Student Leadership Conference.”
This year 176 undergraduate students have registered for the conference. They represent 15 colleges and universities in Texas and 15 colleges and universities in other states. In addition, 20 students are attending from seven universities in Mexico.
The Center for Ethical Leadership promotes the development of leadership potential among students and other constituents through education, research and service to community. The Center prepares graduates for leadership positions in the public, private and nonprofit sectors and for the ethical challenges they will encounter throughout their careers. The Center is a teaching, research and information focal point for students and educators from all disciplines as well as for practitioners and other interested parties.
The Hatton W. Sumners Foundation sponsors a program of endowed scholarships in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico to allow undergraduate students in political science, government, history and related disciplines, and graduate students in law and public service to attend programs relevant to their fields of study.
