Black Student Leadership Summit emphasizes networking, unity

Students interested in networking and improving their leadership skills attended the Black Student Leadership Summit Saturday morning, sponsored by the African American Culture Center.\nDespite the early start, about 20 participants seemed enthusiastic and ready to learn. The summit was held in the Indiana Memorial Union, featuring keynote speaker Leroy Robinson, a motivational lecturer.\nGwen Paulk, director of the center, said the summit was part of its regular programming. She said she wanted to encourage students to develop leadership skills on a regular basis, with an emphasis on networking.\n"Often, students do not look on themselves as a leader," Paulk said. "We want them to leave with confidence … understanding skills that allow them to be effective citizens."\nThe summit was not held last year, Paulk's first year as center director, but will continue in the years to come, she said.\n"We want to grow in terms of number of students who attend," she said.\nShe said she hopes to have a larger conference next year, inviting groups from the other IU campuses, mentioning a group from IU Kokomo that made the trip to Bloomington for this year's summit.\nThe summit began with a continental breakfast and introductions. Before Robinson spoke, participants talked, expressing their frustration at the lack of unity among the black community on campus.\nPaulk said she was liked Robinson's message.\n"He'll get the students re-energized … encourage students to be a risk taker," she said. \nRobinson, based in Indianapolis, writes a syndicated column called "Education Matters," plays host to the television show "The Successful Student Live" and is a public school history teacher.\nThrough a multimedia presentation, including television, Power Point, music and articles from newspapers and magazines, Robinson spoke of three areas -- legacy, image and leadership.\nHe began his talk by encouraging participants to know their legacy and which part of Africa their ancestors came from. He then talked about the images of black lifestyle portrayed in the media, using Time magazine as an example. \nHe then talked about how television portrayed black life, mentioning the "The Cosby Show" and "The Parkers." Throughout his presentation, he emphasized it was not the networks or the media who were portraying the images of black life, it was the actors and entertainers perpetuating the images.\nAfter talking about the images, Robinson discussed leadership. He emphasized challenging the process, enabling others to act, modeling the way and encouraging the heart. As for change, he said to raise the standards, change one's limiting beliefs and alter one's strategy.\nGraduate student Shannon Sims said she enjoyed the summit and called Robinson's presentation informative.\n"I came to network with more of the black students on campus," she said, "and get information on the state of the black community here and nationwide."\nRobinson said it was important to speak to students because the black community needs an agenda.\n"We need to focus on specific issues," he said. "Many issues are so broad."\nHe also said students need to be community leaders.\n"These people here today are okay, because they're here," he said. "They need to take their experience and knowledge and share with young people."\nThroughout the summit, the tone was one of hope towards creating more of a community within the black community on campus. Many participants attended the conference to network with other black students on campus, and if Paulk's vision comes to life next year, the opportunity to network with black students from other IU campuses will be possible.\nPaulk and Robinson said being a leader was possible even if a student is not a leader of a particular organization.\n"Skills for leadership is for anybody," Robinson said. "Today we connected on black student leadership, but the leadership skills are important for anybody and everybody"