Marshall University’s Student Government Association will teach high schoolers about various aspects of leadership through its first leadership conference Sept. 27 in the Memorial Student Center.

Senators from Student Government Association are working with other departments on campus to present topics about leadership, diversity and communication.

Other sessions will discuss how to choose a college major and a career that one can be passionate about and how to incorporate leadership within those passions.

Michelle Barbour, student advocate and success specialist, said she wants the students to get more involved with campus and community and reach out to all of the local high schools.

“We want for our students to have a deeper bond with those high school students, trying to get them involved and promote leadership,” Barbour said. “It is student driven and student led, and our students are getting an opportunity to show the leaders that they are on campus and also influence future leaders.”

Matt Jarvis, Student Government Association president, said he can see strong leaders in high school students and wants them to see how they can improve at Marshall.

“We want to talk to these students to be able to interact and engage with them on different aspects of leadership and what it means to be a leader,” Jarvis said. “Being juniors and seniors, they are the leaders in their schools now, so they’re kind of viewing a different light. They’re about to make pretty big decisions, and hopefully, this conference can aid them a little bit and think of different aspects for them.”

Jarvis said he wants high school students to know that their opinions matter.

“If something like this existed when I was a junior or senior in high school, it definitely would’ve helped me decide on where I wanted to go for school a little easier,” Jarvis said. “We want to let them know that there are topics and problems that the world does face, so I’m excited to know what they know and what’s going on in their schools and communities. I have a feeling that it will be similar to what’s going on here.”

Alison Baldridge can be contacted at [email protected].