With Mount St. Mary’s University welcoming back one of its historically largest returning student populations, many organizations have been preparing new ways to engage with students. One of these is the Institute for Leadership Ethics, Achievement and Development, or iLead.
iLead is an organization run by Professor Dana Sauers and it focuses on developing the leadership skills of every Mountaineer. Traditionally the office provides leadership development opportunities to Mount students through free one-credit courses and National Society Leadership and Success. But this year, there is something new
iLead has in store.‘Voice of Leadership,’ a leadership podcast hosted by student interns Maria Cary (C’24) and Jarrod Stebrick (C’24).
The biweekly podcast is available on Apple Music, Spotify, the university’s website and everywhere podcasts are streamed. ‘Voice of Leadership’ aims to highlight student leaders and promote the organizations they work with. Maria Cary, a Biology major and a Business minor, is excited and looking forward to host her podcast as a platform to showcase student leaders’ talents.
The podcast is not the only opportunity coming out of the iLead office. NSLS will finally enforce its new community service requirements for inductees. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, students were unable to serve in the Emmitsburg community, but this semester they will have the opportunity to volunteer in a variety of ways, including working on Dr. Stephen Mcginley’s farm and donating to local school supply drives.
NSLS has also reformed its Success Networking Team requirement to make it easier for students to complete it on time for induction. Returning students who have a 2.5 GPA or higher will be invited to join NSLS this fall and have the opportunity to partake in all its new features. First-year students who achieve a 2.5 GPA or more in their first semester will be invited to be inducted during the spring semester.
Living Leaders as an in-person event will also return this semester, with the first one taking place on Constitution Day, Sept. 17. An in-person Emerging Leaders tier one, two and three classes have already kicked off. With everything going on in that small office located at the end of Pangborn hall, you may wonder what it’s like to be a part of iLead.
“It’s super fun,” says Jasmine Guerrero, president of NSLS and Graduate Assistant for the iLead office. Guerrero states that there is something new every day and though there is a lot to do, they still have their laughs. “We like to go on ‘walk and talks’ where we walk around campus and discuss new ideas for the organization,” she added.
The institute’s vision is to empower Mount students to be examples of Catholic values-based servant leaders. In support of the central mission of the Mount, iLead’s mission is to challenge students to move others towards good while respecting the dignity of all they lead. iLead promotes self-reflection of one’s academic and co-curricular experiences to let students grow in their self-awareness to become intelligent and compassionate leaders. In these ways, they can lead lives of significance.
Students can connect with iLead by emailing Guerrero or Sauers. They can also connect with them on Instagram at the handles @mount_ilead and @nsls_mount.
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