The Next Big Idea

Student proposals gain momentum at the annual Presidential Leadership Summit aimed at broadening campus connections and developing professional skills.

Just before the start of the spring semester, over 50 students came back to campus early to grow their skills in collaboration, networking, and public speaking at this year’s Presidential Leadership Summit. Themed “Change-Making,” the Summit featured presentations from eight student groups who developed ideas for improving various aspects of life on campus.  

Hilary Bateman, assistant dean of advising and academic advocacy, and Tricia Biles, assistant dean for student affairs, served as summit leaders working to ensure an engaging and dynamic conference by blending team-building activities, professional development exercises, and collaborative projects. The popularity of the three-day event, which is open to students from all majors and class years, is evident in its attendance growth. Compared to 12 students in the first year, 54 students participated this past winter. 

The conference culminates with a formal presentation, known as WAC Tank, where students pitch ideas to their peers, administrators, and alumni, with the hopes of gaining access to resources, connections, and support for their projects. An idea for a campus pub was championed at last year’s summit and, after gaining broad support, The Golden Goose opened on campus for operation earlier this month.  

In attendance at the WAC Tank presentations were President Mike Sosulski, Provost and Dean of the College Kiho Kim, the President’s Leadership Council of alumni and relations, and administrators from Student Affairs. Chair of the President's Leadership Council Brooke Frank ’92 said he “was incredibly impressed by the student changemakers and their presentations.” 

As determined by a new interactive voting mechanism introduced this year, three groups placed as winners of the WAC Tank Voter's Choice Award.  

The first-place group, with a presentation titled “Cultivating Connections: First-Year Common Rooms,” proposed ways to revive common room areas in dorm buildings, citing the importance of these shared spaces in building student community. The group suggested replacing furniture, repainting walls, and providing students with materials to personalize the space using sustainable, renewable decorations.  

The “Get Outside Initiative: Flock to the Green” project, the second-place winner, suggested ways to better utilize the main lawn in the center of campus by installing a storage box that contains sports equipment and versatile outdoor seating options. The group used data gathered from a student satisfaction poll to show the popularity of studying outside, as well as the desire amongst students for more outdoor recreational options on campus to improve mental and physical health.  

The third-place voter’s-choice group, which also won the “Most Beneficial to Campus Award,” focused on the development of a new recreation center in a former residential hall in the center of campus.  The “West Hall Rec Center: Campus Club Hub” presentation used pictures of currently under-utilized rooms to support their proposal for a new space dedicated to student meetings and events, which the group said will provide important spaces for student leaders by housing over 20 club offices in two large spaces to help build up the 70 clubs at the College. 

While the WAC Tank is the main event of the conference, days’ worth of teamwork, idea-generating, and skill-building take place to make the final presentation possible. 

Tiyaba Jamal ’27, who attended last year’s summit as a first-year student, has since become a peer mentor and a significant student leader on campus. Jamal believes that “every presentation, bonding activity, icebreaker, and workshop...provide[s] the attendees with the resources they need to develop their ideas.”   

The most memorable part of the event for Jamal was a team building and self-reflection exercise during which students were asked to write down the qualities they believe most important to a leader.  

“I think it was the first time many of [the students] sat down to actually think about the qualities they want to see in a leader,” Jamal said. “I just remember thinking that I hope they adopt and carry these traits with them through the rest of this conference and in their future leadership positions.” 

On the first night of the summit, the student groups gave informal presentations to one another and to a small group of alumni and summit leaders. Biles said that these early presentations create “an environment where it's okay to feel your way through it,” and where students are told that “it’s okay to make mistakes and have awkward moments.” By the final WAC Tank presentations at the end of the three days, students have learned how to share their work and ideas in a “more polished” and professional manner. 

Biles believes that investing in peer support programs is essential to a thriving student community.  

“We recognize that we can have all the great professionals in the world, but our students are going to be interacting with one another even more,” she said. “We’re living our leadership practice, and we value [our] student leaders.” 

A Presidential Fellow and this year’s Lead Summiteer, Ben Kelly ’25 said he did not participate in the summit last year for fear it would be a “this whole lecture circuit.”  

“But then,” Kelly said, “I came back from break, and everyone was talking about how much fun they had.” Determined not to miss out on the fun again, Kelly signed up this year, and after showing his eagerness and commitment, was asked by Biles to be the lead summiteer. 

“It was really cool to see...all the freshmen and sophomores come together and make deeper friendships,” Kelly said. “I got to meet a whole bunch of new people, and [reconnect with] people who I've known since my freshman year.” 

Kelly said that the summit contributes to a deeper understanding of the challenges and rewards of student leadership and beyond.  

“You get to learn what it is to be a leader here at Washington College and understand what it's like to be a leader in the real world.” 

 - Logan Monteleone