Loyola’s Department of Student Involvement allowed first and second year students to gain an Emerging Leaders Certification this year through its Emerging Leaders Program, a three-month long program offering elective leadership workshops and three core leadership sessions.

“Emerging Leaders Program is an important component of supporting our Jesuit Catholic mission, as it promotes leadership for social change,” said Moria Phippen, assistant director of leadership and social justice.

According to Phippen, a student must attend all three of the program’s core sessions and at least three elective workshops to earn a leadership certificate, which the assistant director said may be added to resumes and used as a networking tool.

Students enrolled in the leadership certification program may be invited to become leadership specialists or may pursue social justice advocate certificates by completing further training and workshops. Leadership specialists and social justice advocates help suggest new campus programming and help facilitate discussions surrounding social justice topics.

Certificate-holders will also be recognized at Loyola’s Magis Student Leaders Awards ceremony at the end of the school year.

Five students are currently seeking a leadership certificate, and an additional 15 students not affiliated with the certificate program attend elective workshops, the Brave Spaces discussion series or the Q-Advocates training program.

Phippen says students who are currently participating in electives, Brave Spaces or Q-Advocates will have the opportunity to earn their emerging leaders certificates next semester at Loyola’s first ever Student Leadership Conference.

Marisa Jurczyk, psychology freshman, applied to the certificate program and was especially drawn to the Social Justice Advocate track.

“I think leadership is a skill that’s always in demand, and it can be applied to a wide range of jobs as well as day-to-day life,” Jurczyk said.

She said she would go through the program again without hesitation.

Jurczyk said her leadership skills have been tested through hands-on workshops, and she has learned what her strengths are and how she can use them in school and prospective career fields. The freshman also said her perspective of leadership has changed, and she realized leadership doesn’t always mean a designated role or position in charge.

Phippen has received positive feedback from the emerging leaders elective sessions and said the program is meeting Student Involvement’s attendance and learning outcome goals. She hopes the program will grow, as the department is excited to reach more students next school year and offer more tracks once the program expands.

There are two more Emerging Leaders Program elective sessions open to all students this fall, including “Advocating for Yourself and Others” Thursday, Oct. 20, and “Beyond a Single Story of Leadership: Leaders of Color” Thursday, Nov. 3.