The Office of Multicultural Affairs stays busy year round, addressing the challenges facing University students of diverse backgrounds. The OMA hosted its 7th annual Multicultural Leadership Conference on Saturday to help students better understand what it takes to be a leader in an ever-changing world.
Allan Purcell Jr., graduate assistant of African-American student affairs in the OMA, coordinated the event and said leadership conferences designed with diversity in mind are essential to the core values of the University.
“LSU is the flagship university in the state of Louisiana and has a responsibility to lead,” Purcell said. “It is important to acknowledge diversity and have events like the leadership conference so our students can learn in a different type of setting.”
Purcell acknowledged some may not believe leadership conferences are of value to the University and its students, but he said student participation proves otherwise.
“We registered over 300 students for the conference,” Purcell said. “This year is the largest the conference has ever been, and we’re very excited about that.”
Throughout the conference, participants were able to choose from a variety of lectures ranging from the pitfalls of stereotyping, to masculinity and gender in leadership roles to becoming an ally to LGBT groups.
The event was put on by the OMA and designed with diversity in mind, Purcell said. A large group of diverse students gathered, providing a unique learning opportunity.
“The more diversity you have in a group, the more perspectives you have to learn from,” Purcell said. “The more people who come, the more opportunity there is to learn.”
Through his own experiences, Purcell said leadership is a term that is often misunderstood and he hoped teaching students in the setting of a conference could help educate them.
“Leadership is not always about being out in front guiding others,” Purcell said. “Leadership can be as simple as leading by example and just getting the job done when it can be tough.”
While the conference only lasted for a few hours Saturday, Purcell said he is hopeful students will walk away with a better understanding of what it means to lead.
“People get so caught up with what they think being a leader means,” Purcell said. “It is about taking personal responsibility, and it’s ultimately about getting the job done. It’s no more and no less than that.”