7th Annual International Student Leadership Conference

Click here for a full report on the 2007 Conference.

We had a blast!!

With a record 260 participants.

A lot of fun activities.

And much to learn.

For additional 2007 photos, check out the Photos page.

The following report was written by Claudia Smolinski, the intern from Germany who kept us all sane this year (thanks, Claudia!):

“Transforming intercultural experiences into leadership opportunities”

March 23 - March 24, 2007

260 students out of 70 countries from 23 universities in the United States right in Harrisonburg, VA – this can only mean one thing: The International Student Leadership Conference hosted by James Madison University and Eastern Mennonite University is once again in session.

In its 7th year, the Leadership Conference has had more participants than ever, more sessions than ever and more volunteers than ever.

“The same procedure as every year?” - Far from it! This year’s conference had one key difference – students from James Madison University and Eastern Mennonite University served as hosts to promote interaction, help sessions and activities run smoothly and provide assistance to all the participants and presenters.

It all began on Friday night with Group Activities organized by last year’s keynote speaker -  the one and only Salorne McDonald! Only he would be able to to make 200+ students act as a mooing, braying, howling crowd  of animals trying to find their “herd” while walking blindfolded through the Grand Ballroom of the Festival at JMU.  Of course, after this, the ice between the participants was broken, sending the conference off to a good start! With the new-found friends, the participants enjoyed dancing and singing along to Sattaskys, a local reggae-rock group, that performed right in the Grand Ballroom!

After a good breakfast on Saturday morning and after all the other international students from other campuses arrived, this year’s keynote speaker, Darla Deardoff from Duke University, delivered the first part of her keynote address. This introduction to intercultural communication issues attempted to give the participants an overview of various communication styles, culture models and reasons for problems and misunderstandings when dealing with people from different backgrounds. It also gave the participants a chance to decide what they wanted to focus on at this conference and choose sessions accordingly. 7 or 8 different workshops were offered during the day, at three different times, with a variety of topics in relation to leadership (e.g. Covey’s 7 habits and Leadership, The Leadership Secrets of Santa Clause), but some sessions also addressed practical issues like writing a resume that would impress U.S. businesses and fundraising ideas for international student organizations. Deciding which workshops to attend wasn't an easy choice, but the variety ensured that the participants would definitely have something to talk about at lunch!

Following lunch, the participants all gathered again to take in the second part of Darla Deardoffs’ leadership training which focused on examining intercultural experiences and the opportunities that arise from them. It gave the students a chance to critically examine their own experiences as well as providing a frame for analyzing future intercultural encounters.

Even after the leadership training and the three workshop sessions were over, the conference was far from it. The traditional and almost legendary Saturday night dinner and talent/fashion show was still to come.

Students were encouraged beforehand to bring traditional clothing from their home country and they were glad to do so. The Grand Ballroom became a symbol for intercultural understanding and cooperation. “All together one” was not just the JMU motto on this night, it was lived by all the participants. The students were able to showcase a part of their culture by performing traditional dances or songs on stage. To put it in a nutshell, this was an informative, interactive, and, of course, intercultural event that should not have been missed.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Salorne McDonald, Darla Deardoff and of course all the presenters and hosts who assisted in making this conference great! We would also like to thank our campuses, James Madison University and Eastern Mennonite University, for supporting this worthy event! We hope to see all of you here next year!!

Historical ISLC Overview

This successful conference has been in existence since 2001. If you would like to see an overview of past conference schedules, keynote speakers, schedules, etc. click here.