Student Activities Council (SAC) and Student Senate hosted a leadership workshop for leaders of student organizations. The workshop took place on Saturday, September 16 in the Union and provided a space for student organization leaders to connect and develop their leadership skills. The event also featured keynote speaker Jason LeVasseur, founder of The Rock Star Project.
Director of Student Activities Jenna Mockler-Gjerde (‘06) organized this half-day workshop in order to proactively respond to a pattern of student organizations found to be struggling and fizzling out after the COVID-19 pandemic. Student Senate Secretary Hannah Roesler (‘25) provided some further insight on the intent behind the event.
“We realized that a lot of student organizations didn’t know the proper processes to follow for events, funding and advertising as well as recruiting members into their student organizations,” Roesler said. “Getting all of this information out there at the beginning of the year is going to be very good and help streamline the process, hopefully getting rid of any confusion.”
The bulk of the workshop was led by Jason LeVasseur of The Rock Star Project. The organization specializes in teaching student leaders on how to engage their communities successfully, which is why SAC chose him to speak at this workshop. LeVasseur provided meaningful tips on facilitating engaging and exciting meetings, with a focus on building connections to create community using musical metaphors.
“Every event that you go to in your community, you matter to those people because your instrument is so important to the band,” LeVasseur said. “The band is going to have a huge impact on the audience, which shapes your community.”
Anthropology Club President Ian Gonzales (‘24) didn’t know what to expect going into the five-hour workshop, but came away feeling like LeVasseur’s activities fostered connections between student leaders on campus. He recommended that SAC and Student Senate look to continue organizing events like this in the future.
“[It] was nice to get people’s names and build relationships,” Gonzalez said. “I have a few more acquaintances than I did yesterday.”
Like Gonzalez, Future Music Educators Association member Kaitlyn Blackburn (‘24) found the event to be rewarding, especially when it came to making connections with other student leaders on campus.
“[The workshop] gave student leaders some good ideas for activities to do to make a group more open with one another [and] to make them feel able to be vulnerable and sincere with each other,” Blackburn said. “I definitely felt barriers come down.”
The next SAC event will be “Take the Gamble” Casino Night on September 30. The event will be held from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. in the Peace Dining Room.
