Raiders L.E.A.D.

Shippensburg University Athletics

Gallery: (12-1-2022) Raiders L.E.A.D

Mission

The mission of The Raiders Leadership, Emergence, and Development Program for student-athletes within the Shippensburg University Athletics Department is to provide quality lifelong leadership experiences for student-athletes through a structured skill development program.

Vision

To foster growth of core leadership competencies through our curriculum which includes guest speakers and leadership seminars.

Executive Board
Advisor: Trejon Dinkins – Director of the Kathryn Hughes Seaber Raiders Academic Center for Student-Athletes
Board Member: Kyle Baker – Men's Track & Field/Cross Country Student-Athlete
Board Member: Lauren Bellows – Women's Track & Field Student-Athlete
Board Member: Makayla Decker – Women's Track & Field Student-Athlete
Board Member: Kyra Love – Women's Track & Field Student-Athlete

Overview

Shippensburg University’s Raiders Leadership, Emergence, and Development (Raiders L.E.A.D) program is a student-athlete focused leadership development program. Raiders L.E.A.D began in the Fall of 2021 to provide quality, lifelong leadership experiences for student-athletes through a structured skill- development program. The primary objective of Raiders L.E.A.D is to provide student-athletes with an opportunity to be actively invested in their personal and professional development outside of their academic and athletic ventures.

One of the main reasons that Raiders L.E.A.D was created was that we found that many teams "elect" or select captains or some type of leadership council with limited training or focus on building the skills of these student-athletes. Often, there is a level of expectancy that they just know how to be a leader rather than helping them grow and develop into a great leader.

In creating this program, we wanted to develop something that could impact individual student-athletes as well as various teams and the entire department. This program develops a cohort of leaders that then work to help cultivate and grow the next cohort of leaders. A formal application process was developed so that student-athletes are immediately invested in the process as well as reflective to better understand what their goals would be if selected for the program. The Raiders L.E.A.D program is a two-year commitment.

After formal acceptance into the program, student-athletes would start year one of the program which consists of six leadership seminars that focus on creating an in-depth understanding of key leadership skills and competencies. Each seminar is followed by an interactive workshop led by the Raiders L.E.A.D Executive Board.

For More Information, contact:

Trejon Dinkins (TADinkins@ship.edu)