Students secure national Jesuit event

BY DEEJ OSTER / VN EDITOR

A small group of Detroit Mercy students that put together a 50-plus-page bid has won the right to host the National Jesuit Student Leadership Conference in 2019.

Sophomores Kortney Hepting and Ben Westphal and juniors DeRoss Cullens, Sarah Hirschmann, Justin Elsesser and Tavala Luciow were inspired to pursue the event by the organization’s previous conference in Washington, D.C.

“This conference brought our group together and helped us to discuss and expand our leadership opportunities, knowledge and many connections,” said Westphal.

Thanks to these Detroit Mercy student leaders and their advisors, Andrew Peters and Dorothy Stewart, the Detroit Mercy campus will be welcoming hundreds of Jesuit students from throughout the United States to see what the university has to offer.

This will be the first time Detroit Mercy and the city of Detroit have hosted the national event.

Though the conference’s theme will remain a secret until closer to the date, hope, action and forward thinking will be part of the focus, according to organizers.

The national planning committee applauded the Detroit Mercy proposal in a formal statement, noting that it featured “a thoughtful and timely representation of our Jesuit mission.”

The National Jesuit Student Leadership Conference will be held in the summer of 2019.