National Society of Leadership inducts 23 members

December 14, 2017

“Don’t underestimate your influence.”

Dakota State University’s Director of Student Activities, Mandy Parpart, offered these words of advice to the 23 newest members of DSU’s Chapter of the National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS) at a recent induction ceremony.

“It is important to think about the impact you can have on others,” Parpart said. “Members of NSLS have had a significant impact on our campus, inspiring our students to become better leaders, and helping them build a better future for themselves, the campus, and their respective communities.”

NSLS is one of the nation's largest leadership honor societies. Each semester, students are invited to become members based on academic standing, and candidacy is a nationally recognized achievement of honorable distinction. The group induction ceremony held on December 6 was the university’s sixth. With the addition of this induction class, the Dakota State University Society Chapter now consists of over 200 students.

Inducted members complete over 10 hours of leadership program training, said Parpart, who is the chapter advisor. This process includes an orientation, a leadership training day, three speaker broadcasts, three success networking team meetings, and culminates in the induction ceremony where the students receive their Certificate of Leadership Training. The process is “an investment in themselves and their future,” she added.

“This group of students has impressed me by being motivated to achieve their goals, and dedicated to personal development,” said Parpart. Two members, Justine Ellsworth and Alexa Haag, volunteered to take extra training and earned National Engaged Leader awards.   

Completion of these requirements is just the first step in a larger journey they now share with fellow members, Parpart said. Membership is for a lifetime, and provides access to benefits including scholarships and awards, exclusive on-campus events, employer recruitment through an online job bank, discounts on computers, textbooks, graduate school preparatory courses, insurance and more.

The newly inducted members (and their majors) include: Madeline Aguilar, graphic design major from San Antonio, Texas; Andrew Bender, graphic design major from Rapid City, S.D.; Shelby Borgers, elementary education and general studies major from Howard, S.D.; Jalen Boyd, secondary mathematics education major from Sioux Falls, S.D.; Peyton Brokiewicz, biology major from Sussex, Wisc.; Justine Ellsworth, education major from Madison, S.D.; Laura Garcia, production animation major from Madison, S.D.; William Geyer, cyber operations major from Madison, S.D.; Alexa Haag, elementary education major from Yankton, S.D.; Cassie Hand, biology major from Rapid City, S.D.; Andrew Honey, cyber operations major from Madison, S.D.; Kyle Kaplan, network and security administration major from Spokane, Wash.; Michael Krause, computer game design major from Sioux Falls, S.D.; Austin Krieger, computer game design major from Sisseton, S.D.; Jobi McCreary, biology major from Webster, S.D.;  Shannon Meyer, business administration management major from Wilmot, S.D.; Erin Newbury, computer information systems major from Ottawa, Illinois; Kristen Sieck, audio production major from Onida, S.D; Dylan Terry, cyber operations major from Rapid City, S.D.; Jordan Van Oort, cyber operations major from Brandon, S.D.; Alexis Vander Wilt, computer science major from Mitchell, S.D.; Lindsey Vogl, professional accountancy and finance major from Webster, S.D.; and Joseph Wieneke, computer science major from Windom, Minn.