IMPACT Conference at Stetson Mar. 31-April 3

Stetson University will be host to the 27th annual IMPACT Conference, a national conference focusing on service, social justice and advocacy, Thursday, March 31, through Sunday, April 3. About 600 college students and staff members from all over the United States are planning to attend, including 150 Stetson students.

Registration is still open; information: http://www.impactconference.org/register-now/. The cost is $180 for students; $190 non-students.

Participants attend workshops on a wide variety of subjects, seeking common ground across issues, ideology, geography and philosophy of social change for the annual conference. Conservative, moderate and liberal students attend, addressing issues such as hunger and homelessness, climate change, community economic development, health and global topics.

“Stetson has had representatives at the Impact Conference for at least five years, and our participation has strengthened our commitment to the community, the natural environment, diversity and efforts toward social justice,” said Savannah-Jane Griffin, associate director of Community Engagement at Stetson. “We’re looking forward to welcoming others who share our values and want to learn how to make an impact on the world.”

The conference will feature internationally known speakers and 90 workshops. Speakers include diversity consultant and author Omékongo Dibinga, a first-generation Congolese-American, and 2006 Stetson alumnus Matt Morton, an international leader in the youth empowerment movement and founder of Youth Factor.

Stetson will present 12 of the workshops, including a “Faces of Homelessness” panel discussion featuring four homeless people; a session on migrant farmworker resources provided through the La Plaza Communitaria in Pierson; a “Puppy Playtime!” to give participants a chance to meet service dogs in training through New Horizons Service Dogs; and “Heroes are Made: The Motivation Within” focusing on building leadership skills and motivation in difficult situations.

An Opportunities Fair will give nonprofit organizations a chance to promote internships and job and volunteer opportunities.

As a kick-off to the conference, a bus will pick up participants at Stetson hourly on Thursday, March 31, and take them to a volunteer springs clean-up service project at DeLeon Springs State Park.

“The different programs offer ways to get more involved in specific issues and to make an impact on your community and explain how to get other students involved and how to mobilize,” Griffin said. “It’s also a great networking opportunity for students because they’re around people who are passionate about the same things they are.”

Stetson has a strong commitment to service-learning and civic engagement through its academic courses, and many student organizations provide service to the community through extracurricular activities. The university has hosted a number of conferences, including the Bonner Summer Leadership Institute in 2009. Through a partnership with the philanthropic Corella & Bertram F. Bonner Foundation of Princeton, N.J., Stetson supports an active Bonner Scholars program that involves undergraduates in service learning, community engagement and leadership training. Stetson is the only Bonner school in Florida.