Monday, Feb. 25, 2013
Redefining leadership: University hosts Big 12 Conference on Black Student Government
MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University doesn't just develop student leaders -- it also draws the best and brightest to campus.
Student leaders from across the Big 12 Conference are coming to the university for the 36th annual Big 12 Conference on Black Student Government, Feb. 28 to March 3. The university last hosted the conference in 2004.
Members of the university's Black Student Union chapter are putting together the event that is expected to bring nearly 600 student leaders to campus.
The highlights of the conference will be the nationally recognized speakers. They include Jonathan Sprinkles, owner of Sprinklisms Inc. and public speaker on student leadership; Marc Lamont Hill, social activist and associate professor of education and anthropology at Columbia University; Steve Parry, CNN education contributor, author and public speaker; Myra Gordon, Kansas State University associate provost for diversity, inaugural president of the Big 12 Chapter of Chief Diversity Officers and African chief; Frances Cress Welsing, activist and author; and Kevin Powell, writer, activist and public speaker.
"It is truly an honor for Kansas State University to once again host so many young people who embody what it means to be a leader," Gordon said. "I am so proud of our students for their leadership in organizing this momentous event."
The theme is "The Talented Tenth: Redefining Black Student Leadership." Various events during the conference include the 2013 Gospel Extravaganza featuring Alexis Spight, a career and vendor fair, the Big 12 Step Show and the Black and White closing banquet.
The conference rotates among the universities in the Big 12 Council on Black Student Government, including Baylor University, Iowa State University, Kansas State University, Oklahoma State University, Texas Christian University, Texas Tech University, University of Kansas, University of Oklahoma, University of Texas and West Virginia University. The council was established at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1977 to provide leadership and advocacy for black students on predominately white university campuses.
