Chapter 9: Benefits of Student Involvement and Leadership: The Voices of the Students

Encouraging students to get acquainted with the campus community via involvement in student organizations and student organization leadership had become a commonplace mantra. Orientation staff, professors, and student affairs administrators all extol the virtues of campus leadership opportunities on the lives of students. Anecdotally, many student affairs professionals will point to their student leadership experiences as the spark that fed their passion for working with students for a living. Similarly, many chief student affairs officers will point to climbing the ranks of student leadership as their training ground for collaboration, team learning, and inspiring others to rally around a common vision.