The Multicultural Leaders Conference was held on March 28, 2009 in Sykes Student Union. The theme for this year’s conference was “What does it Mena to be a Multicultural Leader in the Community, Classroom, and Corporation?” Furthermore the purpose of the conference was to enlighten students on various leadership topics that would help build more leaders within the Multicultural student body. Planning a conference is extremely difficult and this could not have been possible without the collaboration of The Office Student Leadership and Involvement, The Office of Multicultural Affairs, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. This conference was overseen by committee chair, Rosa Parks, a senior West Chester University student.
The keynote speaker, Mr. John A Dawkins, was a West Chester University alumnus who delivered an empowering message to the students. Mr. Dawkins spoke of his noteworthy accomplishments at West Chester by staring that he started the Gospel Choir and the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) chapter on campus. Currently, he is the President & CEO of Jo-Dan Enterprises, which owns and operates nine McDonald’s Family Restaurants in the North Central Philadelphia and Avenue of the Arts areas of the city. Mr. Dawkins’ company has been recognized as the largest employer of African-Americans to be owned by an African-American in the City of Philadelphia, stated by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor.
There were several workshop sessions such as Event Planning and Overcoming Adversity, in which students said they learned a large amount of information that they could take back with them to their organizations. As stated by many students, the overall conference was a huge success and they looked forward to this again next year.
The committee is very grateful for other contributions from the Black Student Union, the Black and Latino Greek Council, and the Black Alumni Caucus.
– Rosa Parks