Gallery: (7-27-2023) Elected Leaders Retreat
The Leadership Circle is an annual, cohort-based leadership development program that provides touchpoints that highlight leadership strategies and practices for those who have a formal leadership role on their team. As participants in a signature program in the department, student-athletes get to explore ideas and concepts, and individually assess how they can make them better leaders, mentors, and role models on their own teams. The Leadership Circle is a program geared towards unpacking effective athletic/team performance, and content centers around what it takes to establish a culture of high achieving athletic performance. Student-athletes also meet, bond with, and establish a support group with other team leaders. Participation is open to student-athletes from all teams who are nominated by an internal committee of coaches and staff members. 200 student-athletes have participated in the program since its creation in 2021.
2025-26 Leadership Circle: By the numbers
- 50 student-athletes earned a certificate of recognition for successfully completing the program
- 24 sport programs represented
- 100% of participants agree: “Participating in this program has helped me grow as a leader”
- 100% of participants agree: “Participating in this program has empowered me to contribute to my team’s success”
- 100% of participants agree: “I would recommend this program to peers.”*
"Participating in the Leadership Circle helped me grow by building my confidence and communication skills. It pushed me to share my ideas more and work with people who have different perspectives. I also became more aware of my strengths and how I can improve as a leader. Overall, it gave me a strong foundation for working with others and getting involved on campus."
- Survey Respondent
"Leadership circle opened a new path in my eyes as a leader. I do think all the people in the leadership circle did a good job bringing what we talked about into our team and able to expose the others on what was said in these meetings. Additionally, I feel like I was able to grow and pick other people’s brains on how they lead on their teams and try something that was unusual for me or just something that I had never thought of before."
- Survey Respondent
"I did more self-reflection than I have in a while, and also was able to really consider these skills outside athletics. As someone who is told they've always been a natural leader, I think this was a great program for me to check myself to ensure I continue these qualities and bring in some new ones as I continue to go through life, especially when trying to get future jobs and get into PA school."
- Survey Respondent
*
These statistics and quotes have been gathered from a post-program survey that all 2025-26 Leadership Circle participants were invited to complete
