September 11, 2008

Media Advisory -- Leadership Weekend

Reporters and photographers are welcome to cover activities during the annual Paul Simon Leadership Conference Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 13-14, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute sponsors the event, now in its sixth year.

Approximately 40 high school students from the Metro East area will participate in a retreat at SIUC’s Touch of Nature Environmental Center and other locations on campus. The retreat focuses on enhancing leadership qualities of African-American young men through reinforcing positive qualities, building skills and increasing career awareness education.

The luncheon at 11:30 a.m., Saturday in the Student Center’s Old Main room, features Carbondale native and SIUC graduate, the Rev. Archibald Mosley, one of the first African Americans in the U.S. Marine Corps to fight at Iowa Jima in World War II. Mosley is featured in the PBS film, “The Marines of Montfort Point: Fighting for Freedom,” which tells the story of nation’s first African-American Marines training from 1942 to 1949 in segregated facilities at Montfort Point, N.C.

Students will also hear from James E. Scales, director of SIUC’s Career Services, about career planning and from current SIUC students about the importance of planning for college and staying in school. The leadership conference, first held in November 2003, honors institute founder and former U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, who died in December 2003.

For more information, contact Matt Baughman, assistant director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, at 618/201-0082.