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Fire Drill!

It's Time for Ignite 3

By Lacey L. Clay, Photos by Kristen Carollo, Jared Buswell, and Jennifer Carter

Click Photo to Enlarge
Francesca Duncan-Williams, David Lawrence, and Micah Davis are instrumental in planning Ignite and follow-up events.
Francesca Duncan-Williams, David Lawrence, and Micah Davis are instrumental in planning Ignite and follow-up events.
Click Photo to Enlarge
Elmore spoke to a large crowd of students at last year's Ignite Conference.
Elmore spoke to a large crowd of students at last year's Ignite Conference.
Click Photo to Enlarge
Micah Davis (front) was also the co-director of the 2004 Ignite.
Micah Davis (front) was also the co-director of the 2004 Ignite.
Click Photo to Enlarge
Students pray during an Ignite mentoring group session, which served as a follow-up to the 2004 conference.
Students pray during an Ignite mentoring group session, which served as a follow-up to the 2004 conference.
Forget the groundhog and his prognostications. At ORU, the first week of February is going to be all about ORU students igniting the campus with a passion for leadership.

The third annual Ignite Conference, which has grown into Ignite Leadership Week, will take place Feb. 1-5 and will feature a slate of speakers that includes four ORU alumni.

Ignite is a completely student-organized and -directed leadership conference. Its focus is to develop godly leaders who will go out and impact the world for Christ. Dr. Connie Sjoberg, director of the new Leadership Academy, believes Ignite is a wonderful outlet to accomplish her goal for the university. "My goal in Leadership Academy and Ignite...is to create a leadership culture on this campus where we are known to the entire nation as a college who develops leaders."

This year's Ignite theme is "Leadership Inside Out." ORU junior David Lawrence, co-director of Ignite, feels it is important for leaders to evaluate themselves on the inside to prevent public failure on the outside. "We've seen so many leaders today falling in every level of influence and career...this year at Ignite [we're] engaging our speakers in a way where they can address these issues on why leaders succeed or why leaders fail." Lawrence also said that "a lot of students fall privately." The goal of this year's Ignite is to help students address and deal with issues, so that the issues won't affect their leadership potential later in life.

The speakers this year were chosen for their fresh perspective and for their cutting-edge reputation in the fields of business and ministry. Sharing their stories and insights with ORU students will be:
  • ORU alumnus Tim Redmond, president of Redmond Leadership Institute in Tulsa
  • ORU alumnus Dr. Tim Elmore, president of Growing Leaders in Atlanta, Ga.
  • ORU alumnus John Mason, founder and president of Insight International and Insight Publishing Group in Tulsa
  • Napoleon Kaufman, once a premier NFL running back and now senior pastor of The Well Christian Community in Dublin, Calif.
  • Chris Hill, former youth pastor for Bishop T.D. Jake's ministry in Dallas, Tex.
  • ORU alumna Lynette Troyer, Senior Marketing Executive for Deloitte and Touche in New York City
  • Richard Shakarian, president of the Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship International
  • Joe White, president and owner of Kanakuk Kamps

The end of the Ignite Conference will not mark the end of the leadership training. After Ignite is over, a series of mentoring groups, called Millennial Outfitters, will begin. The purpose of the mentoring groups is to make Ignite not just an event, but a continual learning process. According to senior Francesca Duncan-Williams, point leader for mentoring groups, the groups will be "more of a peer-on-peer kind of situation where the leaders are facilitating the group more than leading it."

This year, the groups will read and study Dr. Elmore's book, Habitudes. Duncan-Williams said the book is about "being ourselves and the stuff going on inside. We're just really trying to get people to look on the inside and figure out what are some of the things going on there, and [to] just really be honest with ourselves."

There are many students who are involved with making Ignite happen. They do everything from securing speakers to raising money. According to senior Micah Davis, co-director of Ignite, "Fundraising is our biggest challenge." The conference budget is between $8,000 and $10,000, so the students have their work cut out for them. They get several donations from different on-campus departments, such as the Alumni Foundation, Student Association, and the School of Business. Several local businesses and alumni have also donated funds to Ignite. Each student pays $10 to attend the conference, and receives a registration packet that includes workbook materials.

The Ignite Conference will be a wonderful opportunity to self-evaluate, but Davis also sees it as "students making a difference in other students' lives--change and growth in others' lives." Then, ultimately doing what God has called His followers to do: go out into the world to change lives.

If you are interested in donating to Ignite, contact Dr. Connie Sjoberg at 918-495-6094 or e-mail igniteoru@yahoo.com.

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