Conference on campus

As many of us students prepare for midterms and plan out spring break, two individuals are doing that, plus more. Sophomore Jarael Madyun and Junior Arielle Butler have taken the leadership initiative and are currently planning the tenth annual Cultural Leadership Conference (CLC).

The CLC initially was to culturally educate individuals on campus while serving as recruitment to bring minorities to the BV campus. Along with the initial purpose, the CLC also gives high school students the opportunity to see what college life is all about, from an academic and social perspective.
Director of Intercultural Programs Yorgun Marcel believes that the CLS is important to BVU and the community.

“It’s a great tool to advertise and make people aware of what this campus is, and what it has to offer. It’s a direct form of marketing. For me and my department, the CLC is a great tool to reinforce the concept of diversity and how it is best applied to various areas of a student’s life in terms of going to high school and coming to college,” Marcel said.

Junior Griselda Martinez has been involved with the CLC in past years. She participated in this conference as a high school student and later as a BVU student.

“I actually liked seeing diverse people working together to do well. It was nice to be around all new people and remember that my identity, personality, or whatever it is that is me, had to be explained to a whole group. People really didn’t know me and I loved that,” Martinez said.

Many intense and engaging activities have been planned in efforts to get these high school and BV students involved during this time. On Friday, Apr. 9, high school visitors will go to class with BVU undergraduates to get firsthand experience of what it is like to be a student in a college classroom. Along with that, these visitors will have time with admissions to receive basic guidelines on requirements to come to BVU and will be given a tour of our campus.

More exciting activities include guest speakers interacting with the high school students to help them understand different cultures and dealing with things specifically such as race. A comedian named Big Poppa E will perform, and students will experience the positive feeling of giving back to the community with a community service project on Saturday, Apr. 10.
Madyun wants students to take positive experiences from the conference back with them.

“Inspiration, as far as being an outstanding leader, because they’ll be guided by many of our great leaders on campus. It’s not necessarily about changing their “Inspiration, as far as being an outstanding leader, because they’ll be guided by many of our great leaders on campus. It’s not necessarily about changing their perspective on things, but helping them think in a different way that can benefit them in the future.”