Student leaders are addressing the need for more unity on campus.
Students made a list of things they’d like to see improved on campus at Star Summit.
Star Summit is an annual leadership conference hosted by student affairs officials. It was April 6 in the Great Hall in Tom and Brenda McDaniel University Center.
The purpose of Star Summit is to discuss better leadership practices and areas to improve upon, individually and campuswide. This year’s theme was “Being a Reflective Leader.”
Levi Harrel, assistant director of student development, said he was pleased with the participation at this year’s conference.
“I feel that the students who were present were very engaged in the activity, and as they learned the ins and outs of what reflective leadership actually is, they began to open up, and they began to understand how those practices fit into their lives,” Harrel said.
One of the activities of Star Summit is “I Would Like To See,” an opportunity for students to voice concerns and give suggestions about how to improve the university. Repeated concerns this year included:
– the need for unity between schools, organizations and majors,
– better communication about campus events,
– more biology faculty,
– more official support of Greek life,
– removal of the plus/minus grading system, and
– more recycling, vertical gardening and green roofs.
Grace Mertz, exercise science freshman, said she enjoyed the “I Would Like To See” activity.
“I thought it was great to have the opportunity to vocalize concerns we had and feel like they were heard,” Mertz said.
Other ideas included a campuswide dance and rope swings for the trees on campus.
Kalen Castor, cell and molecular biology sophomore, attended the summit and supported these ideas.
“I think our campus as a whole would support and love a school dance type of event where students come together and socialize and have fun,” Castor said.
Students also wrote down concerns for their organizations and themselves.
Matthew Lavery, acting freshman, attended Star Summit and had similar concerns for FIJI and the university.
“I’d like to see more involvement in both,” Lavery said. “I think that if more people feel compelled to show up to events, both fraternity-based and otherwise, we’d have a much more cohesive and happy campus.”
Castor said the campus already feels cohesive, but there is room for improvement.
“Ever since I’ve been on this campus it has felt very family-oriented,” she said. “I think everyone supports one another; they just need to actually show their support.”
Lavery said he is supportive of students voicing their concerns.
“I thought they were great ideas,” he said. “It gave me high hopes for the future of OKCU and what we’ll be doing on campus, especially after kind of a turbulent year. I just feel like I’ve heard more people being open about their concerns with the school, whether that’s the election or the Wi-Fi or even the elevators in Methodist.”
Harrel said he wasn’t surprised by any of the suggestions.
“I am always eager to hear student feedback,” he said. “We can believe we are doing something right, seven days a week, but it is the students that inform us of our best practices–what is working, what is not working–so while I was not surprised, I was very appreciative of the feedback.”
Harrel said Star Summit was an educational experience for him as well as students since values change from year to year.
“I am always learning more, whether it be effective education strategies, whether it be what are the important values that our students hold today rather than what students held a year ago at Star Summit, or two years ago,” he said. “Seeing where we’re at is very important.”
The theme for next year’s Star Summit has not been decided, but Harrel encourages students to give suggestions by emailing him at ljharrel@okcu.edu.
Click here for a full list of student suggestions.
Leave a Reply