Speakers for the PULSE 2023 Leadership Conference include (from left) Keith Carter, Bethany Cooper, David Magee and LeMia Jenkins Thompson. The conference, set for Feb. 3-4, is designed to help Ole Miss freshmen and sophomores develop leadership skills and learn to balance school, work and personal lives. Submitted photos
OXFORD, Miss. – University of Mississippi freshmen and sophomores have an opportunity to gain new leadership skills, enhance existing strengths and learn to sustain a healthy balance among school, work and their personal lives at the PULSE 2023 Leadership Conference.
Taking place Feb. 3-4 on the Oxford campus, PULSE – which stands for Preparing Undergraduate Leaders, Student Experience – is an annual conference centered around core values of collaboration, communication and reflection.
Hosted by the Ole Miss Women’s Council for Philanthropy, PULSE has become one of the premier leadership conferences offered at the university, said Catherine Adkins, conference co-chair and development associate for university initiatives and special projects.
Among the notable conference participants will be Keith Carter, Bethany Cooper, David Magee and LeMia Jenkins Thompson.
Carter, a former Rebel All-American basketball player, decorated fundraiser and administrator for the Ole Miss athletics department, serves as vice chancellor for intercollegiate athletics. Cooper is a talent acquisition executive with CoreLogic, a global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider.
Magee, director of operations for the UM William Magee Institute for Student Wellbeing, is the bestselling author of the award-winning “Dear William: A Father’s Memoir of Addiction, Recovery, Love and Loss.” A UM alumna, Thompson is chief communications officer for Pinterest, the search engine for finding ideas users can “pin,” such as recipes, home and style inspiration.
“By attending the PULSE conference, our students are able to network, hear from exceptional speakers and participate in guided conversations in small group settings,” said Margaret Barker, conference co-chair and OMWC member.
“We all have leadership qualities within us, and with the help of the PULSE Leadership Conference and the support of the Ole Miss Women’s Council, our students will have the unique opportunity to learn more about themselves as students and leaders.”
All participants will receive a T-shirt, notepad and meals, and be eligible to win a variety of prizes, including Ole Miss baseball club-level seats, signed Ole Miss sports memorabilia and dining gift cards.
PULSE 2023 kicks off with a welcome reception at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 3 at the Paul B. Johnson Commons Ballroom. The reception will feature fellow leaders from across the Ole Miss family, including students, faculty, staff, alumni and featured PULSE speakers.
The conference continues from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 4 at the Robert C. Khayat Law Center. The day will feature presentations on leadership, mental health, social media, communications and more.
The conference will conclude with a keynote presentation by Cooper, who will share suggestions on how students can better prepare for leadership roles within their campus community and future careers.
This year’s conference features a title sponsor, CoreLogic, and other sponsors, including Two Rivers Ford, the UM Department of Housing, Division of Student Affairs, members of the Quirk family and UM alumnus Shepard Smith.
Registration is open to all freshmen and sophomores at https://olemiss.campuslabs.com/engage/submitter/form/start/555543.
For more information on the conference or on sponsorships, contact Adkins at ceadkins@olemiss.edu or 662-915-2384, or online at https://omwc.olemiss.edu.