Empire 8 Student-Athletes Take Part in Summit Focusing on Leadership, Personal Growth, and Community Engagement

2/6/2019 8:37:34 AM

Summit Photo Gallery
39 Empire 8 Conference student-athletes attended the recently-held E8 Summit, which took place February 1-2 at the Woodcliff Hotel and Spa in Fairport, N.Y. Student-athletes and administrators representing each of the league's nine conference members were represented over the two-day event. During this year's event, the conference's student-athletes heard from speakers and took part in a community service effort at the Ronald McDonald House sale site.

"I really appreciated and enjoyed the experience because even though it's a relatively small group of us, it allows us to share ideas and discuss important subjects and, ultimately, see the bigger picture," said Utica's Kierra Caissey, a member of the women's soccer team.

The Summit is an annual event within the league which is made possible through funds from the NCAA Strategic Grant Tier II. It's goal is to provide student-athletes from around the Empire 8 to bring campus personnel together from around the league to integrate and collaborate on ideas.

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Jen Baker, Senior Associate Athletic Director at Johns Hopkins, served as the keynote speaker during the weekend and spoke on the subjects of leadership and followership and the importance of being good at both. Her sessions focused on relationships within the framework of teams and how important those dynamics are to personal and team success.

Prior to her time at Johns Hopkins, Baker worked at Under Armour and in the athletic department at Cornell. During her time at Cornell, she also designed and developed the Big Red Leadership Institute, a program for more than 500 student-athletes across all 37 varsity athletic teams at the school.

Baker talked about how impressed she was with the student-athletes that attended the event. "I was so impressed with the willingness of the student-athletes to engage with two challenging concepts, to be vulnerable with one another, and to think meaningfully about the impact they want to have on their teams. They were terrific representatives of their institutions, and of the leadership that is cultivated within the Empire 8 Conference."

Anthony Loussedes, a student-athlete at St. John Fisher attended his third Summit over the weekend and was excited to be a part of it once again. "The E8 Summit brings everyone together and gives you the chance to recognize there are a lot more similarities than differences among the schools in the league. It was a great two days."

Summit attendees also heard from Dr. Matthew Webb, Houghton's Director of Athletics, who presented on the subject of understanding your followers as key element of being a good leader. As part of his presentation on Saturday morning, the students were challenged to take a stance on some tough subjects and tackle some uncomfortable situations.

Following the presentations on Saturday, the group traveled to the Ronald McDonald House sale site to volunteer as they prepare for their upcoming spring sale. The student-athletes brought along their pop tabs to donate, but also spent nearly two hours helping sort items.

"I thought the Summit went very well," said E8 Associate Commissioner Jacob VanRyn. "I thought our presenters did an outstanding job and seeing the efforts of the group during the volunteer effort was truly awesome. Sometimes at those events, people can be disengaged and not really into it. Not this group - they were there to help out any way they could, it was a great two days."

VIDEO PIECE ON THE GROUP'S EFFORT AT THE RONALD McDONALD HOUSE SALE SITE:
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit www.empire8.com and https://youtu.be/wzL4HcDoUUQ