Marquette students will have the opportunity to experience "Faith and Learning in Action," the theme for the university's 125th anniversary, first-hand at an annual summit devoted to the building of leadership.
The annual Student Leadership Summit, a program that encourages students to explore an understanding of leadership, will be held Oct. 7.
The event is sponsored by the Office of Student Development, the Manresa Project and the Les Aspin Center for Government.
A connection between student leadership development and the university's 125th anniversary theme will be the focus of the summit, according to Jon Dooley, assistant dean for the office of student development.
"Each year we change the theme and format of the summit to explore a certain topic that affects leadership," he said. "In context of the school's anniversary, we want to help students look into creating change in the community."
This is the first year the Les Aspin Center for Government will help sponsor the event. The center will use part of the funds received from the Department of Education, according to Kathryn Hein, assistant director of the Les Aspin Center.
"We want the students returning from Washington to use what they learned to help create change here in Milwaukee," she said. "We also wanted to use the funds to benefit the entire Marquette population."
Students will spend the first portion of the program at different off-campus locations to learn about urban issues for communities and hear from leaders about the methods used to create positive change.
The sites were chosen to allow students to learn about a variety of issues including HIV/AIDS, homelessness, restorative justice, hunger and other issues, according to Dooley.
"The morning will provide a unique opportunity to spend one day in the community to experience what is happening in our neighborhood," he said. "Students will then be able to consider what the theme means to leadership."
The planners of the summit felt that experiencing certain issues will have a greater impact on students than learning about it in a classroom.
"This portion of hands-on learning gives a better foundation on what people are talking about and creates a broader knowledge base," said Mary Lynn Ferwerda, assistant director of the Manresa Project.
Organizations close to the Marquette neighborhood were selected to remind students that the campus is in the middle of a large urban community, according to Ferwerda.
"This time and place is unique because there are a lot of things that are happening in this community," she said. "There are many problematic issues in the community that need to be addressed in the future."
The Rev. Timothy Kesicki, president of St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, will give the keynote address.
"I plan on addressing the relationship between faith and learning and drawing on human experiences during my time as a minister," he said.
Before Kesicki became president of the high school, he spent time with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Sudan. Kesicki's help for refugees in the Darfur conflict helped motivate him to help communities tackle issues in America.
Kesicki felt that helping urban communities is a part of the expectations for Jesuits.
"Ignatius loved cities," he said. "He wanted Jesuits to be in the cities because it was the center of action for the world. Solving issues in urban communities would solve many of the issues in the world."