Delta Sigma Pi Trinity Chapter Hosts Empowering Leadership Conference

By Abby Tisdale

More than 100 people showed up Saturday morning to attend the Empowering Leadership Conference in the Dicke Smith Art Building, held by Trinity University’s Pi Omega chapter of Delta Sigma Pi.

Students participate in an Empowering Leadership workshop.
All photos courtesy of Musanna Al-Muntasir

Beginning at 8:30 a.m., students, all in their business attire, networked over coffee and a continental breakfast with representatives from different companies.

After breakfast, Mark Rose, chief investment officer of the Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd., gave the keynote presentation.

Rose discussed seven leadership traits for success: be passionate, take chances and expect sacrifices, communicate, focus on the mission, be selfless, have a plan but stress execution, and have both pride and humility.

Cooper Fyfe, a junior finance and marketing major at Trinity University, said Rose's speech "was actually personable and relatable considering we are all in positions of developing our professional character and careers at the same time. "

Students also participated in workshops hosted by representatives from companies such as Whataburger, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Spurs, Sports & Entertainment, and Morgan Stanley. The workshops addressed various topics related to career building, including “How to Work a Career Fair,” “Entering the Sport Business Industry,” “The Future Starts Now,” and others.

The Empowering Leadership Conference attracted not only Pi Omega chapter members and other Trinity students but also DSP chapters from other universities. Students from the Delta Sigma Pi Gulf Western Region, including St. Edwards University, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, and the University of Texas at San Antonio, attended the conference.

Key Note Speaker Mark Rose presents
Seven Leadership Traits for Success.

“This is the first time I’ve interacted with Trinity’s chapter,” Gabe Robles, a junior at St. Edwards University said. “I really enjoyed how this had a good mix of presenters like sales and marketing, and showed different aspects of business.”

This was also Pi Omega’s first experience hosting a conference of this magnitude.

“It was interesting in the sense that it was a combination of nerve-wracking, since we wanted to make sure that everything was perfect for the conference, yet excitement because we got a chance to kind of show off our campus and our facilities,” said Pi Omega chapter president Julian Byles, a Trinity junior finance and German major.

And it was no accident that the Trinity chapter organized this event.

“I knew Trinity had a strong alumni network and Pi Omega has several connections with San Antonio recruiters and big name companies,” said Musanna Al-Muntasir, Delta Sigma Pi Gulf Western Regional Vice President. “I thought this brings a lot of value to the fraternity and chapter within the Gulf Western Region.”

For Paulina Pastrana, a senior majoring finance and business analytics technology, coordinating this conference was as an opportunity knocking. “We were tapped on the shoulder by our regional vice president to bring this event to Trinity, and we’re glad we did,” he said.