Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit

SU undergraduates organize Empowering Minds Movement Conference for hundreds of local high school students

Thursday, March 16, 2006, By News Staff
Share

SU undergraduates organize Empowering Minds Movement Conference for hundreds of local high school studentsMarch 16, 2006Sara Millersemortim@syr.edu

On March 31, hundreds of high school students will visit Syracuse University for a day of intellectual empowerment and motivation at the inaugural Empowering Minds Movement Conference. The conference, which was conceived and organized by two SU undergraduate students, will bring students from Nottingham, Fowler, Corcoran and Henninger high schools in the Syracuse City School District, as well as Skaneateles, Manlius Pebble Hill, Liverpool and Westhill high schools. More than 300 students are expected to attend.

Students will participate in interactive learning expositions, student organization-led workshops, inspirational speeches and networking with local business executives and a keynote address by BET star and political activist “Cousin” Jeffrey Johnson. There will also be a closing pep rally and musical performance by a surprise guest chosen to motivate student participants. The day’s events are sponsored in part by SU’s Division of Student Affairs and The College of Arts and Sciences.

Empowering Minds Movement founders Travis G. Mason, a senior political science, political philosophy and policy studies major; and Vincent E. Cobb II, a sophomore political philosophy, psychology and policy studies major, have been working with an executive staff of more than 20 SU students on both the movement and its first-ever conference. “The return on the investment of the past nine months will exceed any accolade or pat on the back,” says Cobb. “We expect that return to inspire young men and women who internalize the mission and vision that Travis and I have set forth, which will motivate students to think bigger, reach higher and shine brighter.” Mason and Cobb have been collaborating with local school administrators to arrange students’ participation in the conference.

The Empowering Minds Movement seeks to empower Syracuse-area youth to exercise leadership, service and scholarship in enhancing their own lives, as well as the lives of their peers, school and community. Inspired by its founders’ interpretation of Chancellor Nancy Cantor’s vision for “connected communities,” the movement focuseson leadership development among young people as a means of helping them addressthe challenges faced by society in general and local communities in particular. “Youth are society’s greatest resource, and thus we must instill in them the confidence, skills and characteristics to successfully pursue their goals and passions and strengthen the Syracuse community,” says Mason.

The conference’s purpose is to encourage and inspire youth to solve the problems that stand in the way of their ambitions. The themes that will be addressed are “leadership and civic engagement,” “discrimination and society,” “health and wellness” and “education and beyond.” High school students will interact with SU students, staff and faculty; community members; and members of the local business community; and will explore issues of grassroots activism and social change in a presentation by Johnson, who was national director for the NAACP’s Youth and College Division, then vice president of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, before becoming host and producer of BET’s “Cousin Jeff Chronicles,” a series of true-life documentaries that deal with current and pertinent issues facing urban communities. The day’s events will take place in the Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine Student Center’s Goldstein Auditorium and in other locations around campus.

For more information about the conference or the Empowering Minds Movement, contact Mason at 443-0717or empoweringminds@gmail.com, orvisit http://www.EmpoweringMindsMovement.com.

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • New Program Connects Law and Social Work Disciplines to Assist Veterans
    Friday, June 9, 2023, By Valerie Pietra
  • ’Cuse Scoops Ice Cream Shop Now Open at Drumlins Country Club
    Friday, June 9, 2023, By Abby Haessig
  • Summer Snapshots 2023: Submit Your Photos for a Chance to be Featured
    Friday, June 9, 2023, By News Staff
  • Syracuse Libraries Supporting the Faculty Tenure and Promotion Process
    Friday, June 9, 2023, By News Staff
  • During PTSD Awareness Month Legal Clinic Helps Veterans Apply for Benefits They Have Earned and Deserve
    Friday, June 9, 2023, By Robert Conrad

More In Uncategorized

Syracuse Views Spring 2023

We want to know how you experience Syracuse University. Take a photo and share it with us. We select photos from a variety of sources. Submit photos of your University experience using #SyracuseU on social media, fill out a submission…

Awards of Excellence Honoree: Maxwell has Been ‘a Guiding Hand’ in Public Service Career

Standing before an audience of fellow Maxwell School alumni gathered in Washington, D.C., for the second annual Maxwell Awards of Excellence, CNN anchor Boris Sanchez ’09 shared the motivation behind his work as a journalist. Sanchez emigrated from Cuba as…

NASA Honoring Those Who Were Aboard Space Shuttle Columbia And Other Late Astronauts

Sean O’Keefe, University Professor in the Maxwell School, was interviewed for the USA Today article “Twenty years later, loss of space shuttle Columbia still teaches us lessons.” The article emphasizes how NASA’s Memorial Grove is used to honor late astronauts,…

NFL, Eagles and Chiefs All Set To Win The Economics Game In Super Bowl LVII

Rodney Paul, director and professor of sport analytics in the Falk School, was quoted in the Washington Examiner story “The economics of the Super Bowl: Hosting, gambling, ads, and more.” The article talks in-depth about all of the economics that…

CEOs Requiring In Person Work Is Hurting Diversity

Arlene Kanter, director of the Disability and Policy Program and professor in the College of Law, was interviewed for the Business Insider article “Some CEOs are pushing workers to return to the office, but it could come with a cost:…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.