Baylor Hosts Big 12 Student Leadership Conference

September 25, 2003

by Lori Scott Fogleman

More than 40 student delegates from Big 12 Conference schools will be at Baylor University Sept. 25-27 for the Big 12 Student Leadership Conference.
The annual conference, held last year at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, is designed to acknowledge the importance of student leaders in the college environment, assist students in their leadership development and promote continuing leadership for their respective schools, the Big 12 Conference and throughout their lives.
The three-day conference will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday in room 510 on the fifth floor of the Cashion Academic Center. Student leaders will assess their talents by taking a StrengthsFinder Assessment test, followed by a 7:30 p.m. dinner in Cashion 510. Scott Drew, Baylor's new head men's basketball coach, will be the featured speaker.
Friday's conference schedule will include a morning session with Mark Pogue of the Gallup Organization, which developed the StrengthsFinder test. Lunch will follow at noon at Baylor's renowned Armstrong Browning Library with guest speaker Tonya Bowen with USA Today's college readership program. At 2 p.m., participants will move to Barfield Drawing Room in the Bill Daniel Student Center to hear Jack Kelley, foreign correspondent for USA Today. After Kelley's presentation, student leaders will enjoy a Baylor tradition - Dr Pepper Hour - in the White-Beckham Room. Friday will conclude with a 7 p.m. dinner at the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, featuring Dan Beebe, senior associate commissioner and chief operating officer for the Big 12 Conference.
On Saturday, Big 12 student leaders will spend the morning working on leadership skills and techniques during sessions at the Sheila and Walter Umphrey Law Center. Lunch will begin 12:15 p.m. at the Gov. Bill and Vara Daniel Historic Village, followed by "yell practice," where each Big 12 university will demonstrate and teach their traditional school "yells." At 1:30 p.m., student leaders will be visited by one of the Baylor bear mascots.
At 2 p.m. in the law school's Kronzer Appellate Advocacy Courtroom, delegates will focus on integrity in athletics, including a discussion of Big 12 policies, sportsmanship and student-athlete involvement. The conference will conclude at 7 p.m. with a dinner and closing ceremony in the Galloway Suite on the third floor of Floyd Casey Stadium's north end zone complex.
For more information, contact Brandon Anderson, conference co-director, at mobile (214) 537-8799.