11th Annual International Student Leadership Conference

March 18 and 19, 2011

"Courage to engage"

ISLC's 2011 year's theme was Courage to Engage. Leadership is not always easy - sometimes it is downright difficult. Do you always have the courage to jump into a situation and take the steps needed to move forward? We have designed this conference to give participants the tools to better prepare for those times when leadership is hard.
The Friday evening focused on the difficult conversations we, as leaders, must sometimes have. How can we best hear each other when we have thoughts and beliefs that are vastly different from each other? How can we move forward when our ideas of progress differ? Greg Meyer helped us to explore our own beliefs and values, and then have a dialogue with others whose views may be very different.
Saturday morning we built on the Friday night discussions as we watched the movie, Crossing Borders. This documentary follows the relationship between four Moroccan and four American university students as they travel across Morocco. The students must learn to live with each other and navigate a world in which their views on everything from religion to eating practices differ. The film's director states that, "The documentary aims to inspire audiences through practical examples of how to overcome the artificial separation between "Us" and "Them."
We were delighted to have Crossing Borders' producer, Arnd Wachter, with us to share in the previewing of the film and in conversations and activities following the showing of the film. As the Crossing Borders Mission Statement says, …."[T]here is a critical need for a new generation of individuals and future leaders who understand the major challenges to cross-cultural conflicts and who have the capabilities, commitment and grit to address them….."

The 2011 conference was attended by over 180 participants from schools as far away as The Bahamas and California. Participants has this to say about their experience:

• Thank you very much for organizing such an inspiring event filled with knowledge & fun. Everyone hosting the workshops and the...staff that helped was upbeat, welcoming, helpful, friendly & enthusiastic...I loved the conference and plan on attending next year!!!
• It was nice to meet people from different countries who share common interests.
• It was a great opportunity for me to attend and will encourage international students to participate actively in student activities in order to get a chance to participate in such an excellent program for self development and become an asset to the campus and the community as a whole.
• I learned a lot more about being a leader during this conference, but the one thing I would take back is being able to strengthen others to act as a team by motivating them.

And the best things about the conference?

• Just meeting all of the different people from different cultures.  I am an African-American and was a minority at the conference as well. Which was a beautiful thing. I loved hearing all the accents around me, and learning differences as well as similarities.  The leadership conference was wonderful. I learned countless tips in order to enable me to become a better leader as well as a better person.
• The entire gathering of peoples of different nationalities who accepted their fellow students as they are. There was no hesitation to mix or greet each other. To see the expression on the faces as they learned of each other's culture and ethnicity was unforgettable.
• I truly enjoyed the activity where we had to stick "the faces of leadership" to the backs of the participants, and then to make up a quick play.
• I met so many great new people that I am still in contact with even though we are back at our different schools.

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.