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Ted Hoef

I am writing this on a Monday morning following a weekend in which I attended the first Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony for our Athletics department. Later that same day I joined an informal gathering of members of the classes of 1999 and 2001. Both of these events reminded me of the tremendous value of student involvement outside of the classroom.

For the five members of the entering class for the Athletics Hall of Fame it was a momentous occasion, to return to campus and be recognized for their outstanding achievements. I really enjoyed seeing these alumni. It was very impressive to see their former classmates and teammates in the stands cheering them on. Because the bonds that were formed years ago were strong, these alumni wanted to return to campus to be there to share in the moment with each of the honorees. For some of these alumni, it has been over twelve years since they graduated.

After the Hall of Fame ceremony, I hurried downtown to meet up with a group of former student leaders who had graduated in 1999 and 2001. A small group of staff and alumni have gathered together with these alumni for a social event or two every year for the past ten years. It is always great to catch up, hear the stories of what is going on in their lives, and share information about new developments at the University. This event further reinforced for me the long lasting bonds that are formed when students spend quality time together involved in common interests outside the classroom. These friendships will last a lifetime.

I mention these two events because I want to emphasize how important it is for our students to seek out meaningful ways to get involved on campus. Through this involvement, students will gain so much, developing key competencies such as teamwork and organizational skills that employers are seeking. Beyond the practical reasons for getting involved, students will come to cherish the lifelong friendships and great memories of working together.

Emerging Leader Retreat
We held our annual Emerging Leader Retreat on January 23-24 at the Dana Brown Retreat Center in Gray Summit. I came away very impressed with the leadership skills of the twenty-four students who attended the retreat. The goal of the leadership retreat was to help emerging student leaders connect with other leaders, learn more about themselves, and develop leadership skills to help them be more effective during their remaining years in college and beyond. About one-third of the attendees were first-year students. As these talented freshmen assume higher levels of student leadership positions in the coming years, I am confident that they will contribute very positively to the quality of campus life.

For more information about our student leadership development program called WebsterLEADS, go to: http://www.webster.edu/studlife/StuA/leadership.htm

We hope to have another newsletter out to you in March. Please send us your suggestions for future articles.

Go Gorloks!

Sincerely,

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