Saturday's Student Leadership Summit may have been titled "Power of One," but more than 130 students in attendance collaborated to brainstorm changes that would affect the Marquette community.
Sponsored by the Office of Student Development and the Leadership Education and Development Center, this year's summit took on a format that relied on students to set the agenda for the day.
Students began brainstorming ideas in the morning to form separate three-hour breakout sessions ranging from balancing the competitiveness of the university with its Jesuit values to the negative effects of alcohol on campus.
"It empowers students," said the Rev. Andy Thon, vice president for student affairs. "They ran the groups and came up with the plans. It was a wonderful tribute to them that they devoted an entire Saturday afternoon to come up with these ideas."
Students were also pleased with the outcome of the summit.
"It was a great opportunity for people of different levels of education and different backgrounds to come together on issues we agree on and get real change on the Marquette campus," said Alison Griffith, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences.
Sarah Schmitt, also a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, agreed.
"We got to see that any issue that needs to be addressed, there's a way to go about doing it if we come together," she said.
This idea of coming together was one of the main goals of the "Power of One" topic, according to Jon Dooley, assistant dean of student development.
"It's about the power of a single idea," he said. "But when you work together collaboratively with others you can really make great things happen."
The students' suggested changes will be available for the entire university to see this week on OSD's Web site.
Dooley encouraged students to also share their ideas at an open forum with University President the Rev. Robert A. Wild on Thursday sponsored by Marquette Student Government.
"I hope this is truly the beginning of something great happening," Dooley said. Students "have the power to make some change."
Students can also express their ideas in existing committees and task forces, Thon said.
Some of the issues raised "go hand in hand" with concerns the university also has, according to Mark McCarthy, dean of student development. He said the issue of balancing Jesuit values with being a competitive university was one focus that "stuck out" as a topic the university is currently grappling with.
Students said they felt the variety of ideas presented was a result of the broad range of students who participated.
"I think it was a great opportunity for students not so much involved to get involved," said Dan Calandriello, a junior and MUSG senator in the College of Business Administration. "It was a great outreach to know what students really care about."
"Students recognize they can contribute to change and should contribute to change and not just point to someone else to fix the problem," McCarthy said. "They want to be involved in the solution."