Alumni and Friends Making an Impact

When COVID-19 disrupted campuses across the nation, in-person classes quickly folded. UD leaders not only recognized the threat to learning, they knew community, fundamental to everything UD, needed their support.  

They implemented UleaD, a leadership program where first-year students learn leadership foundations and are paired with student mentors who help them navigate their first year at UD. It started because of the pandemic, but continued because of its success. 

“It’s a great way for students to get to know the foundations of what leadership looks like here on our campus, bringing in our Catholic, Marianist identity,” said Chelsea Rooney, assistant director for the Center for Student Involvement and Student Leadership Programs. 

What sets UleaD apart from other programs at UD is not just its focus on first-year students, but the opportunities it provides — including the chance to present at Stander Symposium, an annual forum celebrating academic excellence across the University. 

Typically reserved for upperclassmen, Stander Symposium gives UleaD participants the platform to share their end-of-year projects, which highlight their experiences, personal leadership philosophy, and the impact they hope to make on the UD community in the future. Last year, UleaD was the only nonacademic group that presented at Stander. 

“It was an opportunity for their experience and learning to be seen on the same scale as academic work,” shared Rooney. “It set an amazing precedent for these first-year students that this is how we value experiential learning on this campus.”

The program is entirely donor-funded, and thanks to donations made to the Student Development Fund for Excellence on One Day, One Dayton, the UleaD program can continue to make an impact on students’ first years on campus. 

“There’s a lot of higher education research that points to a sense of belonging on campus impacting student retention,” said Rooney. “This program strongly impacts a student feeling like they belong here on campus, like they have a community here. This program impacts their time here and the people they are once they leave here.”

83 participants have returned as mentors

Rooney noted that 83 participants have returned to act as mentors, including Sha’Maria Barton ’27, who participated in the fall 2023 cohort.

“Being a mentor has been such a great learning experience for me,” said Barton. “It allows me to act as a mini-leader, and it really makes me think about how I’m going to approach different questions, and how I can further my mentee’s learning experience.”

Barton is excited for the future and plans to continue acting as a mentor throughout the rest of her time at UD. 

“This program has really made a difference in my experience at UD,” she said. “It’s given me a community I can relate to, helped me to identify my personal values and changed how I look at myself as a leader.”