I-LEAD® 2024 a “Life-Changing” Experience for Students

Over 40 college students from around the United States gathered at California State University–San Bernardino to experience four days of ACUI community building and leadership development designed to raise the curtain on new possibilities for their lifelong journeys. This journey, held last month, was ACUI’s annual I-LEAD^®, the Institute for Leadership Education and Development, and those four days, according to some, were nothing short of life-changing.

“Participating was transformative for both my personal and professional development,” said Georgia State University’s Salima Subratie, a pre-med student who works part-time as a lead student staffer in student center administration.

“You may come here nervous and scared,” said Tyrique Whitson, a student trustee and student government vice president at PennWest California University. “But by the end of it, you will have made many new and some lifelong friends. It has been a life-changing experience.”

Participants traveled from across the United States—Stonehill College in Massachusetts, the University of Texas–San Antonio, and Muskingum University in Ohio, to name a few—for programming led by five student affairs professionals from ACUI member schools who covered topics on everything from best practices for exemplary leaders; the Social Action, Leadership, and Transformation Model (SALT Model); the Iceberg of Oppression; and Kitchner’s Moral Principles.

Nicole BellCorelli of the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh served as the facilitator program chair. Small group facilitators were Abigail Bradley-Tyler and Kasey Burroughs (both from the University of South Florida–St. Petersburg), Alyssa Runnels (University of North Carolina–Wilmington), Celia Keefer (Wentworth Institute of Technology), and Anthony Roberson (California State University–San Bernardino). ACUI Educational Program Manager Victoria Moulterie served as the on-site staff liaison.

Facilitators led interactive workshops, like Lost at Sea, where students ranked the importance of available items left to them if they were lost at sea. The exercise required teambuilding and communication as individuals ranked the importance of the items individually and as a team, comparing their selections to an actual list created by the U.S. Coast Guard. As supplemental material, the program used a 60-page student handbook covering everything from leadership theory, implicit bias training, a history of the ACUI program, and instructions for conducting several skill development activities.

“This experience opened my eyes to how I have been an effective leader, as well as how I could be a better leader,” said another PennWest student Alexis Steenburg. “It showed me to not only model the way, but to also encourage the heart.”

Attendees participated in both large- and small-group sessions, often working into the evenings. The first day, a welcome with introductions and “foundation setting,” began in the afternoon but ran into the evening, with small groups of five and six students working on expectations and goal setting. The next two days were fully scheduled, with a breakfast and morning energizer, then straight into back-to-back sessions on social justice foundations, the powers of assumptions, development of a service project, and the development of individual leadership journeys.

Those journeys allowed students to create a path from a starting point to a finishing point, using pictures and words to answer a series of questions related to their I-LEAD^® experience. A dozen questions were asked about the students’ goals, expectations, role models, challenges, and other aspects of their leadership journey.

ACUI is still seeking a host for the 2025 I-LEAD^®. Bring this transformation student experience to your campus next June or July. For more information, please contact Victoria Moulterie.