Bernard Chapman of Belleville West High School receives the 2024 Paul Simon Youth Leadership and Character Award first place honor from John Shaw, institute director. Chapman was selected for the honor by his peers who attended the leadership weekend. Looking on is SIU Carbondale alumnus and chaperone Mike Sankey of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. (Photo provided)
October 22, 2025
SIU’s Paul Simon Institute to host Metro East Youth Leadership Weekend
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Paul Simon Public Policy Institute will host the 20th Metro East Youth Leadership Weekend, Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 25-26.
The institute’s retreat will welcome young Black males from the Metro East to participate in events that foster personal development, civility, leadership, and civic engagement. The theme for this year’s event is “Civility, Leadership, and Civic Engagement: Start Now” Between 35 and 40 students in eighth through 12th grade will engage in activities designed to promote career awareness, servant leadership and political involvement.
The leadership weekend is one of the institute’s “most inspiring programs,” said John Shaw, institute director.
“It’s uplifting to see these young men work cooperatively and develop leadership skills that will expand and deepen in the years to come,” he said. “The alumni of this program are impressive and illustrate the power of this leadership weekend.”
Media availability
Reporters, photographers and news crews are welcome to cover the leadership weekend activities. For more information, contact Linda Renee Baker, Paul Simon Public Policy Institute university professor and project director, at 217-553-6660 or lrbaker@siu.edu, or Will Becque, institute communications and marketing coordinator, at 618-453-4009 or william.becque@siu.edu.
The program will feature a variety of activities, including breakout sessions with local leaders, the football Salukis homecoming game, team building exercises, mentorship and social networking, and group activities on campus and at Touch of Nature Outdoor Education Center.
Linda Renee Baker, a university professor with the institute and program director, noted that this year’s three keynote speakers “are all influential men who grew up in the Metro East area.”
“They embody the success and spirit of their community, serving as role models who have achieved great success and continue to give back in meaningful ways,” she said. “It’s especially meaningful for students to engage with role models who share their roots, showing them that great success can begin right where they are.”
Keynote speakers are:
- S. Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri Rodney H. Holmes. Raised in East St. Louis and a 1985 graduate of East St. Louis Senior High School, Holmes earned his law degree from St. Louis University School of Law and undergraduate degree from Lincoln University. He was sworn in as magistrate judge in 2023.
- Tommie Van, a 1986 SIU Carbondale alumnus from East St. Louis. Van is a dual general manager of two Mariott properties in Chicago.
- Darius Robinson, operations manager for Menzies Aviation in Hanover Park, Illinois. Robinson is a member of the SIU Foundation Board of Directors and an SIU Carbondale graduate, with a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology and master’s degree in manufacturing systems.
The late U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, who founded the institute, along with then-associate director Mike Lawrence and Baker established the program in November 2003.