A series of upcoming lectures aim to help students become better leaders. The lectures, known as the Spring Leadership Series, are being hosted by the Student Involvement and Leadership Office, and will be held once a month in the River Valley Room of the Memorial Union. Each lecture will last one hour and start at noon.

The series was created by graduate student Setareh Campion, who received her undergraduate degree in Elementary Education at UND and is on her second year in the higher education master’s program. The series is co-facilitated by Sara Kaiser, Coordinator of Student Organizations and Affairs. Kaiser had previously worked on a leadership conference, which was a single day event, but the series promises better attendance and less cost.

“It’s kind of our first try,” Campion said in an interview last week, alongside Kaiser. “I think we have three amazing speakers. We took into account things like student schedules and spring break. I’m just really excited to see how it goes.”

The first speaker is Emily Holth of Sustainable Solution Services, LLC, who will present on Wednesday, Jan. 25 to talk about conflict management.

“We thought she could bring a nice perspective on maybe something students don’t often think about,” Campion said. “So we reached out to her in hopes that she would be willing to share her expertise with students.”

Other speakers participating in the lectures are Laurie Betting, Interim Vice President for Student Affairs, as well as UND President Mark Kennedy. The dates for their presentations are Feb. 22 and April 5, respectively.

Free pizza will be available to attendees, and students will have an opportunity to enter a raffle for a $100 gift card to the university bookstore.

As a last note, the program is being run by the Student Involvement and Leadership Office, which is independent from the leadership undergraduate minor program.

Connor Johnson is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected]