The University of Olivet recognized 20 students as graduates of the college’s President’s Leadership Institute (PLI) during a ceremony March 23 at the Battle Creek Country Club.
President Steven M. Corey, Ph.D., and the founding faculty members of the PLI, including: Trustee David Labrecque; Provost and Dean Maria Davis, Ph.D.; and Today’s Leader Partners Charlie Burnham and Mike Bivens, were on hand to officially recognize students as fellows of the institute for having successfully completed the eight-segment program. Yvonne Caamal Canul, superintendent of the Lansing School District, 2015 Michigan Superintendent of the Year and a 1973 The University of Olivet graduate, was the event’s featured guest.
“Throughout their college careers, these exceptional students have been an example to their peers of what it means to be a leader on campus,” Corey said. “As fellows of the President’s Leadership Institute, they’ve demonstrated the skills and character it takes to lead successfully in their professional and personal lives. The founding faculty members of the institute are confident they will apply those skills in mentoring future generations of The University of Olivet students, as well as becoming successful leaders in their own communities.”
Launched in 2013, PLI was established to develop top leadership in Olivet’s students, as well as enable them to become the principal professional and community leaders of the future.
The college partnered with Today’s Leader, a management consulting company that specializes in business coaching and professional development, to design a program catered specifically to Olivet students. The institute includes a variety of programs and initiatives to promote leadership, identify leadership talent, and develop effective and successful leadership qualities and skills in The University of Olivet students.
Successful institute graduates are designated as “fellows of the President’s Leadership Institute,” and are invited to remain engaged in the activities of PLI in support of future student leadership development, both while completing their studies at The University of Olivet and as successful alumni engaged in professional and community leadership roles.
The students were nominated by faculty members and selected for the program based on academic excellence and exemplifying leadership on campus. This year’s graduates include: Andrew Arras, a senior from Mason; Bruce Baker, a junior from Charlotte; Connor Bauserman, a senior from Battle Creek; Cassandra Brown, a junior from Lansing; Jessica Doster, a senior from Three Rivers; Dominique Giroux, a sophomore from Windsor, Ontario; Mona Hinamanu; a junior from Lansing; Dallas James, a senior Roscommon; Nick Jones, a sophomore from Plainwell; Rachel Joseph, a junior from Chesterfield; Leah Lupu, a senior from Ovid; ReBekah McDaniel, a junior from Lansing; Zachary Nash, a senior from Olivet; Jessica Palacios, a senior from Ortonville; Kyle Ranney, a senior from Millington; Ruben Rico-Rodarte, a senior from Phoenix, Ariz.; Allyson Schultz, a senior from Traverse City; Hunter Teare, a senior from Trumbul, Conn.; Xavier Vance, a junior from Detroit; and Christine Wood, a senior from East Lansing.
For more information about the President’s Leadership Institute at The University of Olivet, contact Barb Spencer at 269.749.7642 or bspencer@uolivet.edu.