Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Support independent student journalism. Support independent student journalism. Support independent student journalism.
The Dartmouth
June 18, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Students hold leadership conference

Student leaders from the eight Ivy League schools will flock to Hanover this weekend to participate in the first-ever Ivy League symposium on leadership, examining the "Bestiality of Leadership."

The symposium, which was organized by Theresa Ellis '97 and Sarah Lenczner '97, will look at the "unspoken difficult things that go along with being a leader," like stress and personal costs, Ellis said.

The idea for the symposium came from a conversation the two women had with Dean of Student Life Holly Sateia about the resignation of Student Assembly President Danielle Moore '95 last fall and a leave of absence Harvard University President Neil Rudenstine took last year because of fatigue.

The conversation concerned issues from the "other side" of leadership.

"People didn't feel there was enough support for student leadership," Sateia said. "Instead of getting the support of their peers, they criticize them."

On Saturday, there will be three roundtable discussions and a panel presentation. Ellis will host one discussion called "Balancing Expectations," which will cover concerns about dealing with the pressures of faculty, administration, peers and family.

Lenczner will host the discussion on "The Impact of Diversity." This will be broad-based so as to encompass not only racial diversity, but also gender, class and ethnicity.

Richard Shreve, professor of business ethics at the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, will facilitate the final discussion on "Ethical Dilemmas."

Director of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Mary Childers, local politician Liz Hager, Dean of the College Lee Pelton and Board of Trustees Chair John Rosenwald will participate in the panel discussion.

The discussion will focus on "the worst or most difficult leadership decision" that these leaders have had to make, how they would change that decision if they could and what they have learned from this decision, Sateia said.

"In Hanover we can become a little isolated," Sateia said. "We think our problems are unique but we've found that these are common concerns across the Ivies."

Each Ivy League school will have three representatives at the panel. Meredith Epstein '97, Marene Jennings '98 and Garret Gil de Rubio '96 represent Dartmouth.