Congratulations Excel Graduates!

This past fall, the OSILD was able to host their inaugural Excel Leadership program. The third tier in the three-tier Circles of Leadership program, Excel provides a culminating leadership experience for those students who have completed both Emerge and Engage. Throughout the fall semester, five students met weekly with Sarah Potrikus and Linzy Martinez to broaden their understanding of their personal strengths and those of others, think critically about current social justice issues across the nation, and reflect on their own journeys through leaders. The program culminated in each student sharing a PechaKucha style presentation centered on their leadership story.

Congratulations to the five students who completed the Excel program this fall: Arianna Giasson, Erica Hanlon, Jaylene Hurley, Lea Markham, and Keara Vangel! Read below to learn more about these amazing student leaders!

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How Professor Alex Briesacher is Making Space for Others

Alex Briesacher loves teaching his students. Asking around campus, those students who have taken his sociology classes mention his approachability, caring nature, honesty, and innate ability to teach through stories and humor as reasons they return to his classes as often as they can.

“The students here are a lot of fun once you get past certain barriers they put up,” says Briesacher. “One of my favorite classes to teach is capstone. All these students have built capstone up in their heads, and my syllabus is essentially ‘so what do you want to do?’ These students have all these ideas and I’m like ‘sweet, go do it.’ And then they go do it, and you get this amazing research and amazing projects.”

And it’s not just in the classroom that Alex is helping to make a difference within student’s lives. His passion for creating inclusion and belonging on campus extends past the Tiffany Gates to the greater Worcester community as well. 

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Student Spotlight | Anna Johnson

Anna Johnson, a junior studying sociology with a minor in pre-law, is all-in when it comes to life as a Worcester State student. A Worcester, MA native, Anna has spent the past two years building an impressive resume of leadership and involvement experiences. She is currently the Student Trustee, a Presidential Student Ambassador, Third World Alliance Chair, and member of the Academic Policy Committee, Bias Incident Response Team, and Christian Fellowship. That’s all while balancing community work with the Cultural Exchange Through Soccer, the Liberian Association of Worcester, and the Student Advisory Counseling of the MA Higher Education Department.

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Club Highlight | Chabad on Campus

As one of the newest student organizations at WSU, Chabad on Campus is one or our many faith based organizations on campus. OSILD chatted with Chabad President, Karen Shalev, to learn more about the important role that Chabad plays on our campus and what programming and educational opportunities the group brings to the WSU community.

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Join. Lead. Learn. Grow.

The Office of Student Involvement and Leadership Development at Worcester State University believes strongly in the diverse range of leaders that exists on our campus. This website was launched to both highlight our immersive leadership programs and to recognize and celebrate the great work being done by the leaders in our community.  We also aim to highlight through our stories that leadership means so many things to so many people. There is no one quintessential definition of a good leader; we all have our own unique path to reaching our full potential.

Please join us in celebrating the beauty of leadership at Worcester State University.

Circles of Leadership

Engage Leadership Circle

Engage Leadership Circle is the second level of our weekly workshop programs, and is structured for students who have previously completed Emerge. The Engage program focuses on expanding on the ideas introduced through Emerge while incorporating new topics that are more situated for students who have already built their foundational leadership skills.

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Campus Leadership Opportunities

Leadership Symposium

The Leadership Symposium is an annual event that allows students, staff, faculty, and alumni to come together and celebrate leadership at Worcester State University. A day of workshops, mentoring, and networking culminate in an experience unlike any other on campus.

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Leadership Summit

The winter 2021 Leadership Summit has been cancelled.

This year, the annual Leadership Summit will focus on the intersection of your identities. Through facilitated discussion, personal reflection, and team builders, you will leave the weekend with a better understanding of who you are and the qualities that you bring to your leadership roles.

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