Lucy Welles
liw002@marietta.edu
Students and faculty at Marietta College are in the midst of preparing for the annual McDonough Leadership Conference, which will be held on April 10 and 11. This time of year is an exciting one for the McDonough center, as its doors open to students and professionals hailing from 19 colleges and universities across the country.
Dr. Gama Perruci, dean of the McDonough Center and professor of leadership studies, is encouraged by the conference’s expansion.
“We are very pleased with the rapid growth,” Perruci said. “This year, we have a great variety of institutions – Harvard, Princeton, Georgetown, Ohio University… the list goes on and on. Some schools have well established leadership programs, while others are beginning to develop a more comprehensive program. The students and faculty will have a chance to network and share ideas.”
According to Perruci, the McDonough Leadership Conference began six years ago when a political science professor named Dr. Jackie DeLaat passed away. A student named Melissa Varga had the idea to honor DeLaat with the conference. She served as its first conference chair.
Taylor Hanigosky, a junior journalism major with a certificate in leadership studies, is serving as this year’s chair. She told The Marcolian that her favorite aspect of the conference is its variety in structure and content.
“The presentations are really dynamic; some are lecture-based and some are interactive workshops,” she said.
Each year’s conference has a unique theme around which the topics covered by presenters are centered. This year’s theme is “Concrete Leadership: Bridging the Divide between Theory and Practice.”
“We want the conference participants to reflect on the ways that theory informs practice, and vice-versa,” said Perruci.
Hanigosky hopes each attendee of this year’s conference will find a presentation they can personally resonate with.
“I hope that they hear something in a session that strikes a chord with them and inspires them to explore a topic more in-depth, and be passionate,” she said.
Alina Kielbasa, a senior majoring in international leadership studies and political science, is planning to attend the conference for the second time after discovering a passion of hers and subsequently putting it into practice abroad.
“The only reason I didn’t go last year was because I was studying in Tuvalu, Fiji,” she said.
Kielbasa, who will be one of the conference’s presenters this year, looks back fondly on her previous conference experience.
“My sophomore year, I did a project about a Tuvaluan environmental leadership theory, and the author of the theory, Rian Satterwhite, was at the conference,” she said. “I had the opportunity to sit next to him during one of the keynote luncheons, and I learned a lot. This year, I had the chance to talk to him again about my honors thesis, so it really came full circle for me. I feel so lucky.”
The conference is offered free of charge, but registration is required as space is limited. Interested parties may register here.
