Student Life will host “Cardinal Talks Extended” on Monday, Feb. 27, from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. in the Thompson Student Activities Room.
Modeled after the popular lecture series “Ted Talks,” the event will feature four speakers and a free dinner. Next Tuesday’s edition of “Cardinal Talks Extended” will focus on life lessons and leadership development.
“We try to take interesting stories from around campus and feature them in our Cardinal Talks, anywhere from assistant provost to staff and faculty members,” said Student Life Event Coordinator Mike Hensley.
Student Life has three of its four speakers already scheduled for this semester’s “Cardinal Talks Extended.” Natalie Schneider, president of SVSU’s chapter of Delta Sigma Pi, will serve as the student speaker, and Director of Campus Recreation Aaron Mowen will serve as the staff speaker.
Recent College of Education graduate, Beth Darling, who is currently teaching middle school, will be the alumni speaker.
“The selection process was me taking a poll from a handful of students on who would be interesting to hear from,” Hensley said. “So I was able to use those requests and then also do some work myself to try and fill those spots.”
Last year, the talks took place on a weekly basis, but a decline in attendance led to the creation of a new style for the series.
“When attendance started to fall, we tried this ‘Cardinal Talks Extended’ where we brought a student, an alum, a staff member and a faculty member in to see if the attendance would go up, and it did,” Hensley said. “It stuck, and it stuck really well, so we decided to nix the weekly Cardinal Talks and just do the Extended’s so that way, we were giving the students what they wanted.”
Hensley added that there are two main tasks “Cardinal Talks Extended” hopes to accomplish for its attendees: leadership development and learning the specific lessons from each individual event. For Mowen, he plans to tell stories of his leadership experience and help students become better leaders.
“I am looking forward to sharing my experiences with leadership, what I’ve learned, and hope to provide students a few tools to develop a leadership style,” Mowen said.
To attend the event, there is an application form that can be found on Orgsync. If selected to attend the event, applicants will receive a confirmation from Student Life.
“I love Cardinal Talks,” Hensley said. “They’re very informative. It’s a good way to see faculty, staff, students and alum outside of where you’re normally used to seeing them. You get to hear their stories, learn from their experiences, and it’s honestly one of the better leadership programs we have at SVSU available to the entire population.”
