Student leaders create common agenda
April 29, 2008
Freshman Marvel Da-Wariboko of MUTV leads a discussion with ASUM board member Traci Harr and STRIPES director Domingo Pacheco during a leadership summit Sunday in Brady Commons.
Student leaders from a variety of organizations, including minority groups, social justice organizations and student governments came together Sunday for a summit aimed at establishing a common agenda.
Missouri Students Association adviser Farouk Aregbe spoke on the challenge of mixing diversity with successful leadership in a speech he called “Recycle your boxes.”
He said though everyone is born with a blank slate, people learn who they are and who they aren’t as they grow up and live inside a metaphorical box.
“We start to think about our box as being better than the next person’s box, when really, we’re all the same,” he said.
He encouraged students to “recycle their boxes” by trying to lose their boxes and see past each others’ differences.
“Travel outside your box when you’re making a decision as leaders,” he said.
After Aregbe’s remarks, each organization in attendance reported on what they have worked on this year and how they would be willing to cooperate on projects with other groups.
For the last activity of the day, attendees split into groups to work on projects they had suggested as potential opportunities for collaboration. Projects included securing a supply of safe food, fighting a Missouri ballot initiative that would ban most forms of affirmative action, establishing an MU International Day in the fall, holding forums on the upcoming election and tuition rates and establishing a campus human rights coalition.
Students Taking Action Now: Darfur Mizzou President Nadege Uwase led a discussing on forming such a coalition with members from the Asian American Association, the Legion of Black Collegians and Sustain Mizzou.
Uwase, also president of African Student Association, said the summit was a good step in the right direction.
“We’ll have better strength in planning these activities,” she said.
Uwase said a coalition would help student organizations collaborate on domestic and international human rights issues.
“When you’re hosting an event, it’s not just one group doing one thing,” Uwase said. “We educate more people.”
New Legion of Black Collegians President Anthony Martin, who helped plan the summit, said he felt it was very productive.
“We’re getting organizations that wouldn’t be involved with (other) organizations together,” he said.
MSA President Jim Kelley said he has received positive feedback from attendees.
“It’s good to get a bunch of different people in the room and discuss,” he said.
He said he expects to review project evaluations from participants Wednesday to determine where to go with the summit. He said he plans to hold a similar summit sometime in the future, but has not set a date.
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