Eight members of the Campus Activities Board recently returned from the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) conference in Arlington, Texas.
According to the association’s website, the NACA is “the recognized leader in higher education providing knowledge, ideas and resources for campus life. We provide our members with programs and events focusing on student and professional leadership development, program planning, concert management, diversity and more.”
Jet Pride Coordinator Anthony Navarrete said he learned a great deal about planning events that can incorporate diverse clubs on campus. He said diversity is especially applicable to the campus because of its large number of diverse clubs.
“I am hoping to plan out some diverse events or work with some of the diversity clubs to help promote them and offer people a new experience,” said Navarrete.
He also wants to bring back some older traditions to the school.
“I would also like to maybe revive some of the older traditions at Newman that may have been forgotten and to encourage the student body to have some Newman pride.”
Navarette spoke for all the members who attended by stating that one of the most beneficial takeaways from the conference “was getting to meet with other schools and bouncing ideas off one another. Overall the conference was a refresher for some of the CABbies I would say. We are used to the events that Campus Activities Board has thrown in the past and it was good to see what other schools were doing and what was successful with them.”
Newman sophomore Luke Sponsel said, “The biggest benefit I see is the board members applying what they learned from the conference while making it unique to the demographics of Newman. In order for this to happen, I have to lead by example.”
Sponsel further explained that the conference gave him and his peers the tools to become better leaders and to provide unique, exciting activities that still retain Newman traditions.
Campus Activities Board members expressed their gratitude to the university for providing them the opportunity to attend the event and use their new knowledge to give back to the campus and community.
