Seminar
Every other Tuesday evening, the members of the Freshman Leadership Program attend leadership seminars. Seminars typically include a speaker or a panel of speakers from the Creighton community or the Omaha community. Members of the Freshman Leadership Program have the opportunity to attend seminars which provide inspirational stories by people who have excelled in life and leadership. These seminars are designed to motivate the freshmen to become better leaders by informing them of leadership opportunities, challenging them to become more involved in the Creighton community, and provide a great awareness of social issues. The seminar aspect of FLP integrates the program’s other facets of service and community in order to continue building leadership.
Directly following the seminar, the freshmen have the opportunity to reflect upon the speaker’s message with others which allows for time to process the information. Reflection activities are done in mentor groups which consist of six to seven other freshmen and two other upperclassmen.
Since the seminars are often professional in manner, we ask students to dress in business casual and business formal attire. Please see the Dress Code Guidelines for more information.
Listed below are some of the speakers that shared their inspirational stories of leadership with the Freshman Leadership Program.
- Fr. Gillick, SJ is the Director of Creighton's Deglman Center for Ignatian Spirituality. He has been a recurring speaker for FLP for several years. He never fails to inspire us with his great wisdom and charming humor. In his most recent speech, he challenged us to embrace our unique gifts and to share those gifts with others by reminding us of "how sad it would be to be called a 'usual' person."
- Fr. Schlegel, SJ is the president of Creighton University and speaks annually about his winding road in becoming the president of Creighton, and how leadership was involved in the transformation from a Creighton Political Science teacher to the current President of the University.
- Grandma Verna Kephart manages Precious Memories, a daycare for underprivileged children. She is truly the essence of a community leader, providing a service to an often overlooked area of Omaha. Verna always inspires FLP with her enthusiasm and love for what she does and the children she cares for.
- Susan Jacques is the president and CEO of Borsheim’s Jewelry Store, one of Warren Buffett’s companies, in Omaha. She speaks about her journey in the field of jewelry and gemology, including growing up in South Africa and how she decided to become a gemologist. Ms. Jacques speaks about the necessity of taking risks and the power to follow your dreams.
- Michael Yanney is one of Omaha’s most recognizable faces. He has been honored by the Horatio Alger Association as a Distinguished American. Mr. Yanney speaks to FLP about his story, how he decided to leave a comfortable job and follow his dream, and shares stories about leadership and supporting one another.
- Dr. Rob Dornsife is an English professor at Creighton. He helps students think about what they are passionate about and how to infuse that passion in all they do. He particularly focuses on choosing a major and organizations the students enjoy and not getting involved with areas the students are pressured to go into if they are not interested.