News

<< back to Spring 2005 news

Three Greenlee School Students Dedicate Their Time to Improving the ISU Campus and the Ames Community

Story and Photos By Lori Runkle
Greenlee Web Team

The fourth annual ISU Senior Leadership Recognition Award event, sponsored by the Senior Class Council (SCC) and the ISU Alumni Association, honored Samantha Sexton, Adam Kuban and John Kauffman on March 8, 2005 in the Great Hall of the Iowa Memorial Union. The three recipients of the award were honored not only for their dedication to improving campus life, and life in the Ames community, but also for their outstanding leadership abilities.

The SCC and the ISU Alumni Association selected eight senior leaders from a large pool of qualified student applicants, and three of those senior leaders-- Sexton, Kuban and Kauffman-- have one of their majors, double majors, or triple majors in the journalism department at ISU.

Samantha Sexton

"We only have $4.5 million lef to raise." -Samantha Sexton

Samantha Sexton, who is studying advertising at ISU with a minor in women’s studies, is also working at Innova in Ames. Innova is a company that offers a variety of services to nonprofit organizations including fundraising and project management services.

Sexton said that she is currently fundraising for the non-profit Special Olympic Games at Innova. “Not many people know the 2006 Special Olympics will be in Ames,” she said. As part of the fundraising team at Innova, Sexton has been busy raising $15 million for the event. “We only have $4.5 million left to raise,” she said.

Sexton, who was involved with the Student Alumni Leadership Council as a freshman, encouraged all students at ISU to get involved with the activities they love.

From the spring of 2003 until the fall of 2003, she was the president of the Sigma Kappa sorority, and for the past two years, Sexton has been the Story County Entertainment Coordinator for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.

“Serving on the VEISHEA Planning Committee in 2004 taught me a lot about our community,” she said. Sexton coordinated the activities for 125 volunteers at VEISHEA in 2004. “It’s harder than it looks to put on a successful event that big,” she commented.

Sexton would not mind staying in Ames after she graduates from ISU because she enjoys her work at Innova. Recently, she was promoted to a project manager for the Special Olympic Game’s fundraising drive.

"Wise leaders value and respect the people around them. They remain open-minded to innovative ideas and new approaches to solve problems. This creates synergy that enhances the group's overall effectiveness." -Adam Kuban

Adam Kuban

Adam Kuban encourages students to “take advantage of opportunities” because “if you pass up an opportunity, you never know when the next one is going to come along.”

One opportunity that Kuban seized was working for the ISU Department of Residence as a Resident Assistant for the 2003-2004 academic year, and then moving into the position of an Academic Resource Coordinator in August 2003. “Both of these roles helped me develop my leadership skills,” he said.

Social skills, problem solving skills, public speaking skills and organizational skills are all important to a good leader according to Kuban.

While working with ISU students in his job as an Academic Resource Coordinator, Kuban implemented a pen pal project that links ISU students to fourth grade students at the Willowbrook Elementary School in Altoona, Iowa. “The pen pal program evolved into mentorship” said Kuban, “and I have had stellar participation rates.” ISU students serve as role models to the elementary students and encourage them to succeed in school. “This is one way for ISU students to engage in the community,” Kuban added.

In addition to his employment experiences with the ISU Department of Residence, an internship experience also influenced Kuban’s future. Kuban, whose double major in broadcast journalism and meteorology landed him a summer internship with the Independent News Network in Davenport, Iowa, began to think twice about his career path. When he finished his internship in August 2004, he said “I came back from the internship with more questions than answers.”

Kuban thanked his academic advisors in the journalism and meteorology departments for working with him, because through this across-the-curriculum teamwork, he discovered a new career path: teaching.

Because he could not find a suitable time to take a required class in the journalism department, Kuban worked with advisers Maureen Deisinger and Jennifer Hacke to set up an undergraduate teaching opportunity. “I had some nightmare scheduling conflicts because of my double major,” he said, “but that is why I’m a professional undergraduate teaching assistant this semester” in Jeff Blevins’ 306 journalism course. “The most engaging and valuable knowledge I’ve learned has been in college.”

“I eventually want to teach at the college level after I finish graduate school,” he continued. In graduate school, “I want to tie science communication together with journalism.”

John Kauffman

Our success also hinges on “workhorse leaders,” who may not organize the tasks, but are always here to get the job done, as well as the “optimist leaders,” who possess the ability to keep attitudes positive… A good team should even have an “objectivist leader,” who might seem to question….but in the end keeps the group thinking outside the box... The various types of leadership styles can go on infinitely. – John Kauffman

“My majors are public relations, marketing and management. I’m a triple major. I’ve been busy,” said John Kauffman in a telephone interview after returning from Kansas City on March 12, 2005 where he supported the ISU women’s basketball team as a member of the pep band at the Big 12 Conference Tournament.

Indeed, it was difficult to catch up with this very busy man who is the third winner of the Senior Leadership Recognition Award from the Greenlee School of Journalism.

Kauffman, who was a drum major for 3 years in the ISU Marching Band, said, “What defines my experience here at Iowa State is sticking with the marching band. I’ve made life-long friends and supported a team that the whole college is supporting. The members of the band have become like my family.”

As part of both the marching band and the pep band, Kauffman spends about 12 hours a week at band practice during the school year. In addition to practice time, from 2001-2005, he served as the public relations chair, the vice president and the president of Tau Beta Sigma, the national honorary band service sorority on campus. This sorority is “for those who are super-dedicated to the band,” he said. “Our purpose is to make sure that the bands at Iowa State have everything they need to be successful. We step up and sacrifice extra time for the band.”

The extra time he spends on band activities include everything from cleaning up the marching band field to tightening musical stands with wrenches. “We reorganized the band library and did fundraising to buy music folders,” he said.

Kauffman advised students to remember that, “There are so many kinds of leaders. Everybody has something inside to be a good leader for a cause they care about. There is always something positive you can add. You have the ability to do that.”

<< back to Spring 2005 news

 

 

Last updated: March 25, 2005
Page Design by Jessica Plymesser, Greenlee Web Team
Comments: webteam@jlmc.iastate.edu
Copyright © 1996-2002, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. All rights reserved.
URL: http://www.jlmc.iastate.edu/