The Rocket

Issue date: 3/9/07 Section: Focus

Media Credit: Submitted Photo Students taking part in the 2005 Frederick Douglass Leadership Tour pose for a picture in Chicago. This year's tour began on March 8. [Click to enlarge]

A group that requires students to write essays and read books probably doesn't sound very appealing to SRU students who are already taking five or six courses.

But the Frederick Douglass Leadership Tour attempts to make this kind of learning a bit more fun by bringing students of the Western Pennsylvania Diversity Consortium together to create a sense of community and to develop their leadership skills.

The WPDC is a network of student affairs professionals of color at higher education institutions.

"The WPDC serves as a tool to diminish the psychological, educational and cultural isolation of student affairs professionals of color in Western Pennsylvania," WPDC Treasurer Danine Fleming said.

Sophomore exercise science major Rashad Brown said the trip offers students a chance to learn about their heritages.

"The FDLT is a leadership conference geared to teach students of all backgrounds about the accomplishments of people of color so they can come back to the campus and teach the students about them," Brown said.

"It also teaches you leadership skills and gives you an opportunity to network with other students from across the country on all levels."

The FDLT has taken place annually since 2001 and has approximately 40-60 participants from about 13 different colleges and universities that go on tour. The tour started this year on Thursday, March 8.

"During a monthly "Meeting of the Minds" of diversity officials on various campuses, we saw the need to bring students together on different campuses in Western Pennsylvania to establish community amongst students," Fleming said. "Research shows that it is important to take individuals out of their comfort zones at times in order to establish new bonds.

"We wanted students on various campuses to have the opportunity to get to know other students, share ideas (academic, programming, campus life) and to later serve as resources to each other."

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