Christine Hassler, David Stollman, and T.J. Sullivan
About UCSD Excel Leadership Conference
The University of California, San Diego Excel Leadership Conference brings together hundreds of college and high school student leaders from campuses so that they may engage in a leadership experience they will never forget. Student leaders are encouraged to format their own personal leadership experience at U.C.S.D.'s conference by selecting workshops that best focus on their areas of need or concentration. All participants are promoted to share ideas, network, and enjoy all the benefits presented to them - either from our renowned keynote speakers or by the multitude of workshops that are offered.
The Excel Leadership Conference has grown exponentially each year in both its attendance and its breadth of leadership aspects covered. All participants will have the opportunity to interact with nationally recognized speakers, faculty, staff, and student representatives/leaders from the UCSD campus. UCSD has geared this conference towards the student leader who as the drive and vision to be an active member of their community - whether it may be their college/ campus community, their work community, or their local residential community. This conference aims towards cultivating young leaders so that they may actively pursue contemporary issues that will change/affect both their community, their state, and their nation.
EXCEL OBJECTIVES
To provide students with concrete ideas, concepts, skills and tools. When students leave, we want them to have specific goals and motivations to take back to their organizations. Students should leave empowered and equipped with the personal tools and leadership skills to implent their goals in their organizations, their academic lives, and their future careers. Each workshop will be designated with a color.
Please contact Debbye Rosenthal at Dbrosent@ucsd.edu with any questions or check last years website at http://excel.ucsd.edu (our website is in the process of being updated with this years information and registration will begin shortly.)
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
T.J. Sullivan - Confronting the Idiot in Your Chapter
Every fraternity and sorority chapter has at least one member whose behavior causes tensions and problems for everyone. The out of control roommate. The brother who gets in fights. The sister who won't pay her dues. Bad grades. Hazing. Abusive drinking. Promiscuity. Drugs. Embezzlement. Bad eating habits. Violent relationships. Damage to chapter property.
Wouldn't our chapters be much happier and healthier if we could confront the members whose bad behavior is bringing everyone else down? Don't we have the responsibility to confront the "idiots" in our chapters?
We often allow our friends to risk their own health, safety, relationships or grades with idiot behavior. We are afraid to confront because we fear losing a friend, losing respect, or being judged.
In this hysterical, upbeat program, T.J. challenges all Greeks to step to the plate and find the courage to confront negative actions and attitudes from their fellow members. He offers practical strategies for increasing the effectiveness of constructive confrontations.
By encouraging members to confront each other, T.J. gives students a powerful opportunity to put the values of their fraternity or sorority into action. Regardless of the issues facing your Greek system, this program will challenge everyone to take responsibility for building a better, more responsible community.
David Stollman - Buy In or Get Out
Too often good leaders and good chapters are not able to succeed because they are too busy cleaning up after the ones that don't get it. Fixing their problems or fighting their negative image? Imagine how much more we could accomplish if they were part of the solution instead of part of the problem.
Well...drag them, push them, fine them, beg them, or dare them to attend this keynote presentation by David Stollman. David will say what you wish you could. Let him confront them in his funny, interactive, and moving style.
His message will inspire those that want to care about the core values of Greek life - friendship, service, leadership, and scholarship. He will challenge your members to embrace the best and get rid of the rest. It will touch on topics that range across all major issues facing Greek life.
Christine Hassler - Expectation Hangover
Christine Hassler’s program deals with a challenge facing today’s college students: expectations. Whether from parents, professors, peers, or themselves, the expectations that students feel can be overwhelming. Christine’s program is both interactive and reassuring. She leads a discussion about why decisions are hard to make and shares her “Cheesecake Factory” theory. In a gentle and often humorous way, she advises students about things to expect after graduation like culture shock, an adjustment to independent life, heart-break, competition, and unavoidable forks in the road. Her message to students is that it is 100% okay (and quite normal) to NOT know what you want to do with your life!!! She will dispel myths like “your first job has to be perfect and dictates the career path you will stay on.”
From Christine’s program, students feel relieved of some of the pressure that fuels expectation hangovers and armed with real world tips and tools to prepare them for life post-graduation. They will also learn that life is a journey of answering the questions of “who am I, what do I want, and how do I get it?” and it’s not a test they can study for.
