Leadership Conference Comes to Campus

Minnesota State University, Mankato’s Leadership U is hosting the 2020 U-LEAD Conference Monday, October 19th, 2020 to Thursday, October 22nd. The University is committed to developing the leadership skills of students so they can apply skills to their future career opportunities.  

The conference hosts two different sessions each night. There are a total of eight sessions, and it is free to MNSU students. The sessions run at 7PM and 8PM and last an hour long. 

The sessions essentially provide an opportunity for students to grow and develop personally, academically, and professionally. The topics range from interpersonal communication, to study skills, and to navigating the job market. 

Arnavee Maltare, Vice President of Student Government and host of one of the sessions spoke about the way the conference will be hosted amidst the pandemic.

 “So, in the panel we had about six to seven participants on Zoom and then we had moderators,” said Maltare, “We talked about how we all had different experiences here at MNSU and about the kind of involvement we have here on campus. I think that my session went well because people were laughing at my jokes and seemed engaged.”  

The Vice-President went on to speak on the engagement of the students, “A lot of the students asked questions like, ‘What would you do better if you had to do it all over again?’ or ‘What kind of advice do you have for new incoming students? The session was just overall a good opportunity for people to connect with other students and expand on what we can all get involved in at MNSU.”  

Sam Duncan, 3rd year nursing major attended one of the sessions and said, “I thought that it was interesting this year given that it was online. I think that it was well planned out and I worried on how smoothly it was going to run because there can be issues with internet connectivity.”  

For students who are unaware, Leadership U is an organization that promotes leadership development among MNSU students. Aside from the U-LEAD Conference, there are various Leadership U workshops throughout the semester that are also free for students to attend. Emely Lopez-Ruiz is the contact for Leadership U workshops and can be reached at emily.lopez-ruiz@mnsu.edu