Student organization leaders gathered in the Student Union Ballroom on Sunday, Oct. 6 for the second annual Registered Student Organization Leadership Summit hosted by Ole Miss Leadership and Engagement Ambassadors.
“We wanted to create a space for leaders within the registered student organizations on campus to meet other RSO leaders (and) to increase cross-collaboration between organizations,” Head Ambassador of Leadership and Engagement Ambassadors AC Buckley, a junior public health major, said.
Leadership and Engagement Ambassador Adam Maatallah, a sophomore international studies and public policy leadership double major, said that the summit was also meant to introduce student leaders to skills they can use within their organizations.
“It’s definitely an event made for people who are just starting out with RSOs or have been doing RSOs but are struggling with retaining members,” Maatallah said. “It’s very important to keep the summit when it comes to continuing the support of student (organizations) on campus.”
The summit featured sessions like Event Planning, ForUM Focused, Cultivating Open, Accessible and Inclusive Environments and RSO Finances & SAF.
Aashish Dhakal, president of Ole Miss Coding and Ole Miss Hackathon’s director of operations, attended the summit.
“There (are) so many organizations here that we haven’t heard of,” Dhakal said. “It would be good to know what organizations are out there and maybe a chance to be a part of them and get to know them.”
Junior political science major Edward Hunter, president of the First Generation Network and Associated Student Body senator, went to the Cultivating Open, Accessible and Inclusive Environments session.
“In (the First Generation Network), I have a lot of trouble with promoting accessibility across the campus and making sure it’s accessible to disabled students,” Hunter said. “I also learned that I need to work to promote accessibility.”
Sophomore English major Madison Washington, director of academics and student success for the Black Student Union, also said that inclusivity is important to the BSU and was a main takeaway from the summit.
“It’s important for me to foster an environment that makes everyone feel welcome in the BSU and to celebrate both our culture and the culture of those who came to be a part of us,” Washington said.
