Special to the Flash
Twenty students from Jackson State University attended the 11th annual Thurgood Marshall Leadership Recruitment Conference & Career Fair, hosted by the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) in New York. This year’s theme was “Developing Minds….Delivering Dreams of the Next Generation of Global Leaders.”
The four-day leadership institute is the largest recruitment conference in the nation dedicated to providing leadership and professional development training to HBCU students. The leadership institute brings together students attending the forty-seven public HBCUs with top executives of major corporations to help prepare students to be more competitive professionals. The conference had a recruiting component that provided access for students to potential career opportunities with many of the nations leading corporations and government agencies.
While in New York, the students toured the city with various JSU Alumni. They visited Wall Street, Time Square, Ground Zero, Central Park, The Apollo, and Sylvia’s Soul Food Kitchen, along with a variety of other activities outside the Leadership Institute. The conference culminated with the 24th Anniversary Awards Dinner hosted by Multi-Award Winning Gospel Music Artist, Pastor Shirley Caesar, and honored Russell Simmons, Chairman of Rush Communications with the coveted Breaking Barriers Award. The celebration featured the participation of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Blair Underwood, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Tichina Arnold, Mikki Taylor, Rockmond Dunbar, Lamman Rucker, Terrance J, Carl Lewis, Jim Jones and notable professionals in the fields of education, law and business.
This year, the Campus Relations Team from Thurgood Marshall interviewed and selected students based on their grade point average of 3.0 or better, exceptional leadership, community involvement and education/internship experiences.
The student attendees represented diverse academic backgrounds, which included biology, chemistry, business, education, and political science. The students that were interviewed and selected were: Fred Aldridge, De’Chia Brumfield, Christopher Cathey, Jocelyn Cotton, Whitney Davis, Nivea Green, Alesha Irvin, Britney Johnson, Chantler Jones, Andrea Jossell, Melanie Shelton, and Brian Wilks. Other students that attended the leadership conference included TMCF scholarship recipients Ashanti Alexander, Rosaline Honer, Jhamasa Lewis, Alicia Meadows and Saint Ranson; and students from the Teacher Quality and Retention Program (TQRP), Gloria McCaskill, Dyann Nettles and Brandon Sanders. Ms. Tinna L. Holt, Assistant Director of Leadership Programs and Mr. Gary B. Crosby, Director of the Center for Student Leadership & Involvement accompanied the students.
For the carefully selected students that were selected to attend this years institute, it was more than a collegiate trip to learn from. The students left and came back both inspired and aspired to achieve their goals and impact the world. Several students from JSU were afforded interviews and offered internship and job opportunities.
The Center for Student Leadership & Involvement is located on the second floor of the JSU Student Center, Suite 2147. Students must be members of the JSU Student Leadership Institute to interview with the TMCF Campus Relations Team. For additional information, please call 601-979-3309.
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