The Isabella Cannon Leadership Program hosted its 2009 opening ceremony on Sunday in Whitley Auditorium with an alum of the program serving as a keynote speaker.
“Leadership is gained through habits of the mind and the heart,” Tait Arend ’96 told students in all four phases of the Isabella Cannon Leadership Program.
Arend remembered the lessons he learned in the four phase program offering an array of stories exemplifying the importance knowledge of self, ability to collaborate, willingness to change, and dedication to the common good have in real world leadership experience.
He noted that successful leadership requires desire, knowledge, and skills, as does success in the Isabella Cannon Leadership Program.
Associate Dean of Students Rex Waters; Mallory Anderson, director of the Center for Leadership; and Kristen Clements, ICLP Student Director, welcomed Arend back to the Leadership program from just across the railroad tracks in Johnston Hall.
Alexa Terry, a Phase IV member, also contributed to the afternoon.
Terry began the ceremony by offering some advice from the knowledge gained over her past three years. She illustrated a common path that Elon students choose to take.
Waters later shared insight from a recent alumnus of the program, crediting the importance she now recognized in learning leadership.
Members of the program, old and new, left Whitley energized about the year ahead having gained perspective from the speakers.
– Submitted by Noelle Clemente