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According to junior Nadine Jose, being able to discover experiences different from your own is a way out of the Elon bubble and to gain new perspectives. This is why Jose chose to attend the Intersect conference when she was in first grade. His interest in diversity and leadership has sparked since then.
After attending the conference for the first time, Jose took on leadership roles and is now one of three student coordinators who led this year’s Intersect conference on October 1-2, along with junior Maddy Starr and second year student Valentina Echavarria.
Chosen by student leaders, the theme of the conference is Moments to MOVEments.
According to Jose, choosing a theme for the conference was not a straightforward process. She and her fellow leaders spent time brainstorming ideas that the students who attended would find relevant today, but also important enough.
“We bounced around ideas and moved from Moments to MOVEments because, in light of Stop API Hate and the ongoing Black Lives Matter moves and a variety of different things, we just thought it would really be. relevant. Elon talks about wanting to make global citizens, and one way to do that is to take the things that matter on this campus and launch them into something bigger for the future.
These students were also responsible for choosing this year’s keynote speaker – Nina Berglund, Indigenous youth leader and climate activist. While Tokata Iron Eyes, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and climate activist, was the original speaker, she can no longer attend. According to Jose, Iron Eyes was chosen for their work on climate justice and sustainability, both of which are important to Elon.
“A lot of times the movements can fade or we don’t see how a movement like sustainability could intersect with diversity, and Tokata obviously has a good understanding of that,” said Jose.
The Intersect conference typically attracts around 300 attendees, including many from other universities. The sessions of this conference included a wide range of topics such as leadership and humility, admissions and higher education.
“Because this is a membership between the Center for Leadership and CREDE, we try not to focus on just one area,” said Jose. “We really want to talk about how leadership intersects with equity, inclusion and diversity. “
Sylvia Muñoz, director of the Center for Racial, Ethnicity and Diversity Education and Acting Assistant Dean of Students, said changes have been made to the conference this year as most attendees will be Elon students instead of students from other universities. and many of the presentations will be made by Elon faculty.
“This year, most of the submissions come from Elon’s faculty and staff, although students can also present,” Muñoz said.
Following the Intersect Virtual Conference in 2020, the planning committee was delighted to host the conference in person this year. Muñoz and Jose agree that while last year’s virtual conference attracted a large number of attendees, it did not have the same engagement as the in-person conferences.
Jose and Muñoz both said the Intersect conference provides a space for discussion, education and community development.
“For us, this conference is just a great learning opportunity and the ability to have those difficult conversations that we usually wish to have, but we don’t have the time, space or opportunities for,” Jose said. “Intersect is still just this beautiful thing.”
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