Kansas State University

10th Black Student Union Leadership Conference

Tuesday, Feb. 7th, 2023  |  8:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.  |  FREE

This immersion experience is for high school and college level students and includes a morning keynote speaker to inspire students and get you excited for a day of learning. The array of breakout sessions are designed to help develop leadership skills, challenge self-efficacy and bring awareness to social and political issues. Breakfast snack and lunch will be provided.

Hosted by the Department of Diversity and Multicultural Student Affairs and the K-State Black Student Union.

Registration - Closed

Registration for the BSU Leadership conference has closed due to reaching event capacity.

> Register Your Group Here 

Conference Schedule

Keynote Speaker:

Justice Davis is a queer spoken word poet and young professional from Kansas City, MO. In May 2016, she received her Business Marketing and Communications degree from Kansas State University. During her time at K-State, she served as the president of the award-winning Black Student Union, co-founded Conversation Café on Race and Inclusion in partnership with Leadership Studies and served as the Chair of the Big XII Council on Black Student Government. In 2019, Justice was placed on the Inclusion & Diversity Coalition for the global branded food company - Hormel Foods, to help drive the company’s strategic D&I initiatives across the enterprise. Today, Justice lives in Los Angeles, CA, as a Brand Manager for MegaMex Foods. Balancing both her professional and creative work, she facilitates creative and leadership development workshops for schools, universities, and various community organizations. She prides herself in “using the power of creative storytelling to bring non-conventional topics and ideas to conventional spaces.

Breakout Session Workshops: Additional Sessions Coming Soon

• "BSU's Declassified College Survival Guide"
  
  • Join K-State's award winning Black Student Union President Christopher Burrell and his executive team as they give you an insight into how to survive college whether that be scholarships, mental health, or even navigating friends and relationships.

• "K-State Admissions 101" - K-State Office of Admissions & Recruitment

  • Connect with K-State Admissions as they share the many opportunities available at the university, answer questions you have about higher education, and everything you need to know about applying to be a Wildcat.

• "How Present Are You?" - Igrid Perez-Esquivel

  • Often we walk through our days not noticing what we’re doing, saying, or feeling in our bodies. Mindfulness is the skill of connecting to what is true and becoming aware of everything that is so we can react less with our emotions and more with conscious awareness. In this workshop students will learn 3 powerful tools to remain grounded in the present moment, especially when times get tough. They will also get the opportunity to practice a breathwork exercise they can take with them to develop a daily mindfulness practice.

• "Successful Interviewing with Cargill" - Cargill

  • In this session, we will share tips and tricks for interviewing including – how to prepare for your interview, styles of interview questions, interview reflection questions and tips for responding to behavioral-based interview questions.. Also learn more about Cargill and the many opportunities that are available.

• "From College to Koch" - Koch Industries

  • Participants will connect with a current Koch employee to talk about the journey from being a student to becoming a business professional at Koch. The session will be paired with an overview of Koch Industries touching on what we do and why we do it.

• "The Importance of Science, Business, and Technology in Career Selection" - Black Faculty & Staff Alliance

  • There is a deficit in minority enrollment within the fields of science, business, and technology. This is in part because pre-college aged students do not know the variety of paths which are built upon these fields. One such path is agriculture, which consists of science, business, technology, and many other options. This presentation will discuss the importance of a career within science, business, and technology, and how these fields connect to agriculture.

• "Building Bridges: The Journey towards Anti-racism and Building Allyship"

  • Communicating effectively in cross-racial relationships sometimes feels impossible especially when the white community does not understand the social inequities, marginalization, and violence People of Color face daily. Nevertheless, cross-racial relationships and communicating effectively across difference can create opportunities to work towards anti-racism and allyship interpersonally, within higher education, and in the workplace. This workshop will address the importance of building bridges across difference as we unpack the racial divide in the United States that continues to be perpetuated through systemic racism and what we can do about it.

• "Making the Most of College"

  • College can be seen as a hectic time, especially when you have so many new opportunities ahead. In this session, you will get the chance to explore the many ways you can make the most of your college experience; joining clubs, going to events, picking up a new major or minor, and so much more. There is always something to do in college and we want you to enjoy as much as possible.

Contact

Please direct any questions to Mirta Chavez, Director of Multicultural Programs & Services, 785-532-6276 or Adam Carr, Program Administrator.

DMSA will not provide parking passes for this event. Limited Hotel and Transportation accomadations can be made by request to DMSA. 

Thank you to our sponsors: Kansas Department of Children and Families, Koch Industries, Cargill, and the K-State Black Student Union.

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