On Thursday, Oct. 3 the Rowan Student Government Association (SGA) hosted their first Leadership Engagement and Development (LEAD) professional development session of the year from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. in the Owl’s Nest, located in the Chamberlain Student Center. Attending students enjoyed a free dinner and dessert while the SGA welcomed keynote and inaugural speaker Lloyd Freeman, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC. 

Freeman held an informative and interactive discussion with students where he shared his life story of college education and networking that led to leadership and success along with additional skills that helped him obtain the position of leadership he has today. 

“If you want to stand out, you’re going to have to do something more than your ordinary,” said Freeman, when asked about how to stand out as a leader when working within a large profession. “You’ve got to find out what is the standard, what’s the requirement, what’s the average? And you have to be above average. I think in your work ethic, people will always recognize someone who puts in 125%.”

Freeman also discussed how crucial it is for students to begin networking and making as many connections as possible while in college, not only for career opportunities but for personal growth and learning opportunities as well.  

“You need to make sure that you’re assembling a number of people who are going to be your accountability partners throughout your journey,” said Freeman. “Maybe they are students at Rowan, maybe it’s some professors, maybe it’s people from your family, maybe people from your church, maybe it’s people from community organizations, but assemble that team of people who are going to keep you honest.”

Students were given the opportunity to network and connect with Freeman at the end of the discussion if they wished. The night of networking proved to be a night of newly found connections between students as well, with attendees having the opportunity to chat and build friendships as they enjoyed the refreshments and dinner provided. 

Freshman and computer science major, Yana Shah spoke about why she was interested in the LEAD program. 

“I’m an international student, so I don’t know a lot of people over here. So I think it’s a great place to network,” said Shah. “I think the values and skills that the speaker told us were really good. Like, we’ve all heard that you should network, but how you should network, we do not know. That’s what I got to learn about today.”

SGA President Zackary Brown spoke about the intention of the LEAD program and its importance of being available to Rowan students. 

“Leadership engagement and development was something in my mind coming in as president because I wanted to give students the opportunity to get involved and find community right here in the Student Government Association,” said Brown. “Sometimes people look at SGA and the matters of the student body, just as, you know, you come and sit in and be informal, and sit in an office and blah, blah, blah. But it’s more than that. It’s about affectionate, positive change in community and increasing our community here at Rowan University.”

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