Forty-three Dartmouth students will join representatives from other Ivy League institutions to examine issues of effective leadership at an event held at the University of Pennsylvania this weekend. The eighth annual Ivy Leadership Summit, a program arranged by Ivy Council, will bring together students, professors and leaders from a variety of fields, to discuss the skills necessary to confront public policy challenges.
Ivy Council, a student-run organization composed of members of the Ivy League student governments, organizes the Summit at an Ivy League campus each year. Dartmouth has never hosted the Summit. James Cart '10, the Council's president, said the Council has not discussed any concrete plans for hosting the event at the College, in the future.
Although previous Summits have been focused on a particular public policy theme, such as "The Future of Energy," the Council directed this year's focus towards exploring the nature of leadership itself. This year's event is titled "Creating the Leader."
Dartmouth's Ivy Leadership Summit liaison Uthman Olagoke '11 emphasized that the subject retains the original spirit of the program. Olagoke said that developing leaders that will face future policy questions is one of today's most pressing public policy concerns.
"The issue is that we need more leaders to take charge in the world," Olagoke said.
The conference will be divided into three subtopics: theory, practice and action. In addition to speeches and discussions, student delegates will engage in workshops and interactive case studies.
Although Ivy Council, a subcommittee of Student Assembly, advertised the Summit on campus and arranged transportation to Penn, all Dartmouth students were eligible to apply for a position as a delegate. Olagoke said approximately 56 students applied to participate in the event.
Cart said that preparing for events like the Summit is one of the group's most important functions.
"The biggest part of Ivy Council is communicating and planning," he said.
Olagoke said he hopes the Summit will allow delegates to improve their leadership abilities and increase their potential to succeed in a variety of fields, rather than just providing students with an arena to demonstrate their existing skills.
"We didn't want a delegation of only people who already had leadership experience," he said.
This will be the first Summit for both Olagoke and Cart. Olagoke said the rest of Dartmouth's delegation is comprised of students from all four class years and a variety of backgrounds.
"I think it's going to be a great experience for everyone," he said.
In addition to the Summit, the Council holds symposia in the fall and spring during which Council members discuss campus issues and compare their schools' responses to these problems. Cart said topics raised at this past fall's symposium included student self-segregation and campus dining plans.
Ivy Council also has a service-oriented branch, Ivy CORPS, which is currently fundraising for the African Medical Research Foundation.
