The Freed-Hardeman University School of Business is hosting the 2009 Leadership Summit this Thursday, September 17th. This year will be a first for FHU to present a business event of this caliber.
Sponsored by Regions Bank, West Tennessee Healthcare Foundation and Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, the event will be made up of two “breakout sessions” where participants can choose to attend any one of three, 25-minute classes.
Featured speakers include Tennessee State Representative for District 72 Steve McDaniel, Community President for Regions Bank of West Tennessee, James Dussenberry and Jay Satterfield, Senior Vice-President for Regions-Morgan Keegan Trust. Assistant Vice-President for Development at Freed-Hardeman University, David Newberry, and Judy Renshaw, Senior Vice-President for the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce will also be speaking.
Session topics are all centered on leadership in different areas, from business, to government, to community. The keynote topic and special chapel will be focused on “Servant Leadership” and “Leadership in the Church,” respectively.
Keith Smith, Dean of the School of Business, will give an introduction, along with Chancellor Milton Sewell, and Smith will be wrapping up the event.
“It’s all about developing better leadership skills,” said FHU’s Director of Graduate Admissions, Jim Brown. “This event is a good opportunity for students to be introduced to government and political leaders who have been where the students are going to be.”
In 2008, the School of Business sponsored a picnic. While the event was considered successful, this year the school decided to pursue a purposed idea of two FHU students. Richie Foy and Blaine Dunsmore, now graduates of FHU, developed a plan for a business leadership event as a project for the class, Special Events Management.
Referring to Foy and Dunsmore’s efforts, Brown said, “It really says a tremendous amount about the students we have here at Freed-Hardeman. They demonstrated a great deal of leadership in the planning of this event.” Though the Leadership Summit does not follow the students’ proposal exactly, the School of Business credits them with the original idea.
The Leadership Summit will take place in the Brown-Kopel Business Center and will last from 8:45 a.m. until 12:45 p.m. Though the event is focused on business majors, it is open to students and faculty of all academic areas.