UVI Voice

The UVI Student Activities Offices of the St. Thomas and St. Croix campuses set a new precedence for the rest of the academic year and onward by the joint hosting a two-day Student Leadership Conference on the weekend of January 17-18. The first in a scheduled series of cross campus collaborations, the conference provided UVI student leaders from both campuses the opportunity to receive leadership training for executive positions in campus clubs, student government, and other organizations. Counseling Supervisor Verna Rivers, Legislative Director Gwendolyn Brady from the Office of V.I. Senator Usie R. Richards, Dr. Haldane Davies, and Jonathan Sprinkles were among the guest presenters.

Jonathan Sprinkles, a noted author and motivational speaker, presented the conference keynote address titled: “Jumpstart your leadership with L.I.V.E- How to live like a real leader.” According to St. Thomas SGA President, Sharifa Maloney, “Sprinkles captured the audience as he delivered a real, honest, and passionate address that covered all the bases: advising, involving, engaging, and reminding those present that each person is born an original, so don’t act like a copy”. 

The conference gave student participants an opportunity to learn leadership skills in the comfort of their own campus. “When students go to the mainland for leadership training their numbers due-to-costs are usually small, no more than eight,” says Graduate Assistant to Student Activities, Toreifa Alexander, one of the event organizers. “This conference provided 84 students with this life-enriching opportunity,” she said.

Hedda Finch, St. Croix’s Student Activity Supervisor, accompanied an entourage of approximately 24 students from the STX campus. The remaining 60 students were from UVI’s STT campus.

 For two days, students from both campuses got to know each other as they discovered their individual leadership styles, developed personal visions, acquired motivational tools, and learned professional skills designed to help them become effective leaders and future managers.

 “The conference on the whole was a life changing experience,” said STX SGA President Jessica Taylor, a sophomore. It gave us a chance to grow closer together. The speaker was awesome. He was an inspiration to everyone, he really captured the guys’ attention,” she noted. “The guys from every leadership organization came back to campus with a totally different energy.” 

Joel Dorsett, a business administration major with a concentration in marketing, described the conference as wonderful and in his words, “A Wow!  The conference experience, especially the motivational speaker, helped me push myself forward and gave me better insight into who I am and what I am doing with my life.” Dorsett is student leader in UVI St. Croix’s International Student Association and its Sports Committee.

The Leadership Conference marked the culmination of UVI-SGA efforts to increase cross-collaboration between campuses, shared Maloney. It was an amicable success,” she said.  “And students should look forward to many more joint collaborations in the future,” noted Taylor. 

Both Taylor and Maloney are UVI Business majors.

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