Daniel Caron, left, speaks about “Beyond Civility: How to Play with Difficult People” at the end of the Student Leadership Conference 2025, as Shepherd University student Atticus Schlosser, middle, assists him and assistant director of student activities Rachael Meads looks on, in the Storer Ballroom on Saturday. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — The Student Leadership Conference 2025 was held in Shepherd University’s Storer Ballroom on Saturday.

According to Shepherd University assistant director of student engagement Rachael Meads, the Student Leadership Conference is one of Shepherd’s longest standing traditions.

“This leadership conference has been happening for the past 40 years at Shepherd University. It is our oldest tradition, in terms of activities that happen, dedicated directly to allow students to start to expand their leadership tool kit,” Meads said. “That is our goal, and we hope that that was something you will take away with you today!”

A total of 102 Shepherd students attended the all-day conference which, Meads noted, was impressive, due to it being on a Saturday.

“I really hope that the students took away from this conference, most importantly, the need for compassion for themselves and for others. That’s the number one thing we’re trying to push right now!” Meads said, mentioning “Sculpt Your Future” was the title of this year’s conference. “Investing in their own development is the other thing we’re trying to teach them through this conference. We want them to walk away with many more tools for their leadership tool kit!”

Meads noted that initiatives like this one are essential to ensuring Shepherd’s students graduate with the ability to lead others.

“A lot of our students don’t see themselves as leaders. They think that ‘leader’ means having a capital ‘A’ kind of authority — it means the president or a senator or a CEO or someone with power and influence,” Meads said. “Many of our students think, ‘I don’t have any of those things.’ And it’s true — they don’t have that stuff yet, but that’s just because they’re young.

“I think that’s why so many of our young people disengage — they don’t see a point in engaging in politics or social issues, because they have no power,” Meads said. “We want to remind that they are leaders and they do have the ability to impact change in positive ways, both on campus and after they graduate and leave campus!”

The conference featured a number of speakers who helped the students develop their leadership abilities. Keynote address speaker Robert “Doc” Foglesong — a retired, four-star U.S. Air Force general who serves as the president and executive director of the Appalachian Leadership and Education Foundation — started off the conference with this in mind, as he shared with the students “The Practical — and Personal — Aspects of Good Leadership.” A number of breakout sessions followed the keynote address throughout the morning and afternoon, teaching everything from suicide-prevention training to active teambuilding. A closing keynote speech on “Beyond Civility: How to Play with Difficult People” was given at the end of the day by educator, speaker, author and award-winning photographer Daniel Caron.

“If you leave here knowing anything, please know that butting your heads with others takes a toll. We all have better things to do with our resources every day, than coming home being exhausted from this,” Caron said, as he used experiential learning to teach the students about how to manage their emotional reactions and employ soft skills in everyday life. “These are soft skills. But do not mistake the meaning of the name, because they are some of the hardest to learn!”