Gov. Dave Heineman is the featured speaker of a three-day leadership conference hosted by the Chadron State College Student Senate, Oct. 20-22. The governor’s address, slated for 1:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21 in CSC’s Memorial Hall, is free and open to the public.

On Tuesday Sue Roush, communications assistant in Heineman’s office, confirmed that the governor would address, among other things, two questions posed to him by the CSC Student Senate – “What impact does the youth of Nebraska truly have on the state and its future?” and “How exactly are we (students) supposed to get our ‘voice’ out there and make an impact?”

The leadership conference includes the student governing bodies and faculty advisers from Wayne State and Peru State colleges, Chadron State’s sister institutions in the Nebraska State College System. Representing CSC are members of the Student Senate and CAB’s Executive Board.

Branded as the “State Colleges Conference,” the three-day meeting is the brainchild of CSC’s Student Senate, which responded to a suggestion by one of its faculty advisers to engage in more interaction with the other two system schools.

“I see the State Colleges Conference as a way to bring in ideas we may have never considered. It will not only be beneficial to the student leaders attending, but to the students we will bring the ideas back to on our respective campuses,” Student Senate Vice President James Bahensky said.

Bahensky, who organized the conference, called the event “a first of its kind” at CSC, and said about 15 students and faculty advisers from Wayne and Peru have confirmed they would attend.

The itinerary for the conference includes presentations by the student governments of Peru and Wayne on the morning of Oct. 21, and a series of round table discussions about student government operations.

“Our sessions on both Friday and Saturday will include round table discussions, leadership building activities, and idea swapping,” Bahensky wrote in a late-August email to conference invitees.