Wiley College will welcome you to the Fourth Annual Ethical Student Leadership Conference with the opening banquet.  Conference participants will celebrate the diversity of each other and explore the themes of each plenary session.  A message from the keynote speaker, Bishop Gregory Vaughn Palmer, Resident Bishop of The Illinois Great Rivers Conference of The United Methodist Church, will set the tone for two days of learning.

The Global Strategy Institute of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has identified trends which are shaping the ways the world is rapidly changing.  CSIS refers to these trends as the 7 Revolutions. To respond to the 7 Revolutions and the growing complexity and peril posed by this rapidly changing world CSIS calls for the development of strategic leaders.  Dr. Rowe will discuss the attributes of strategic leadership and the ethical considerations that will shape the choices of 21st Century Leaders.

Leaders That Invite Success Professionally and Personally

Dr. Siegel will discuss how “Invitational” leaders intentionally invite themselves and others – personally and professionally – to build effective community leaders based on the principles of trust, respect, optimism and intentionality.

Ethical Challenges of Leadership

Dr. Lassiter will use the metaphor of light and shadow to highlight the ethical challenges of leadership.   Leaders have the power to illuminate the lives of followers or to cover them in darkness.   They cast shadows when they (a) abuse power, (b) hoard privileges, (c) engage in deceit, (d) act inconsistently, (e) misplace or betray loyalties, and (f) fail to assume responsibilities.

The speaker will stress the need to acknowledge that one has the potential to do harm as well as good.   In addition the speaker will impress upon the audience that when one functions as a leader, you take on a unique set of ethical challenges in addition to a set of expectations and tasks.

Rarely is it possible to have a group of college presidents available at one time in one place.  This session will afford the conferees an opportunity to hear from a panel of distinguished college presidents on the subject of ethical leadership.  The panel will share anecdotal and inspirational examples of incidents as leaders that required moral and ethical decisions.

Why do leaders break the moral rules? According to common wisdom, rule-breaking behavior is the result of selfishness. Leaders behave immorally because they think they can get away with it. But an alternative view suggests that leadership affects the way leaders think about themselves and their place in the moral community. According to this view, leaders sometimes know that their behavior is prohibited by morality and, yet, believe that the prohibition does not apply in their situation. In other words, leaders can come to believe that they are justified in breaking the
rules.

In this session, Terry Price uses moral theory, as well as empirical research in psychology, to evaluate the reasons everyday leaders give to justify rule-breaking behavior. Each line of justification is a variation on the reasons any person might give for breaking rules that apply more generally to others. The morally relevant difference is that leaders who appeal to these reasons seem to be in a relatively better position to build a special case for their rule-breaking behavior. In other words, what distinguishes an appeal to these reasons in the leadership context is that the rule breaker's standing as a leader generally gives (at least the impression of) greater substance to the justification. Are leaders justified in breaking the rules after all?

Professor Fluker remarks in the preface of his book, Ethical Leadership:  The Quest for Character, Civility and Community, that “a public conversation on the role of ethical leadership is escalating in our society.”  He states that “our nation is involved in two costly wars; a financial crisis  precipitated by unscrupulous practices on Wall Street; and a presidential campaign that degenerated into character assassination based on race, religion and unresolved culture wars; and a confused and frightened citizenry that is asking Which way is North?”  Noting that there are a number of strategies that seek to answer this question, he continues “…leaders of the new century must not only be aware of environmental realities that shape the challenges and issues they confront. They must also be aware of the inner environments that shape character, civility and community.” 

Can ethics and politics co-exist? Are the two mutually exclusive? Are the two oxymorons? In no other time in history has the visibility of politics in been more profound in our daily lives. From local matters to complex world affairs, like it or not, political influences have reigned in the past and certainly looks to remain in the future. With this reality, the question is posed as to whether or not it is possible to have success in politics while maintaining an ethical center as it relates to your stakeholders? After all, concessions and collaborations are all a part of the process. However, do these activities have to be done in such a manner that transparency and openness are not the business norms? The speaker will provide some insight into how she has maintained an ethical foundation in spite of less than moral underpinnings in her operating environment.

A 2008 survey by The Economist magazine Intelligence Unit identified community as a key motivator of millennials along with convenience, customization, and cool. Today’s college students thrive on community. They are a postmodern generation that, on a visceral level, seems to comprehend that all reality is interconnected. “Servant Leadership and Community: Discovering a Passion to Serve” will focus on forming the servant leader within each college student through community. What qualities of community are likely to ignite college students’ passion to serve? How can university faculty, staff, and students cultivate such qualities in various campus communities?

The twenty-first century presents many opportunities and along with them come many challenges.  Perhaps like no other time in history, our society has become seemingly numb to the issues of morality and integrity.  We must find our way back to sound morality rooted in strong, yet basic principles of our faith.   This is a session you will not want to miss!

Inspired by the critically acclaimed Hollywood film The Great Debaters, The Real Great Debaters of Wiley College unveils the true story of Wiley College’s 1935 debate team and their groundbreaking defeat of the all-white reigning national championship debate team at USC.  Shattering racial stereotypes and overcoming adversity against great odds, these courageous young debaters emerged triumphant, commanding not only the respect of their peers… but of the nation.  Influenced by their coach Melvin B. Tolson, the Wiley College debaters would go on to devote their talents to the causes of civil justice and social progress and become leaders in the Civil Rights Movement.  The film comes full-circle, as the legacies of The Great Debaters inspire Wiley’s new debate team as it seeks to reclaim its glory on the national stage.

The culminating plenary session for the 2010 Ethical Leadership Conference will serve as an integrating vehicle for the various messages presented over the two days of the conference. New insights and personal commentary will be provided on ethics and leadership from the perspective of a philanthropist, political activist, and community supporter who has paved the way for others to follow the path of service learning.