MARK Leadership Conference Brings Changemakers in Rutgers—New Brunswick Community Together
On Saturday, for the thirteenth consecutive year, Student Centers and Activities in the Division of Student Affairs hosted the MARK Leadership Conference at the Livingston Student Center, featuring speakers and activities that will engage and encourage participants to make their “MARK” on the world.
“The vision of this conference is to incorporate leadership and social justice into a space where students are challenged to think about how they’re leaving their mark on this world,” said Karima Woodyard, the director of Student Involvement and Leadership.
“When they leave the conference, our hope is that they’re ready to take what they’ve learned at our conference and apply it to their future,” she said.
The speakers for this year’s conference, as in previous conferences, included current and former Rutgers students, changemakers, businesspeople, artists, and other guests who have made their mark on the world.
A featured mainstage speaker was Keith Lee, a food critic and changemaker who uses his TikTok and Instagram platforms to share genuine reactions to food from family-owned restaurants, revitalizing many of their businesses and changing lives in the process.
One of the Student Involvement and Leadership LEAD interns who helped to coordinate the MARK Leadership Conference, Jui Khatal, highlighted the range of programming at the conference, which includes TEDx-style speeches, panels of student leaders, breakfast and lunch, a petting zoo and puppy yoga, and a MyMark awards ceremony highlighting student organizations and leaders.
“A whole day simply filled with speaking would be boring to our audience members,” said Khatal. “With that in mind, we took over the entire Livingston Student Center and provided unique Energizers where our different rooms are occupied with different activities like silent disco, karaoke, glow-in-the-dark mini-golf, a climbing wall, and more.”
Khatal also highlighted the importance of this year’s conference theme, “Unity and Harmony,” which guided the planning of this year’s event.
“We’re all pieces of the puzzle, and without each piece we cannot make a big mark on our society,” Khatal said. “That’s why the diversity of our speakers and our programming is so important—through this conference, we can come together and be unified.”
With that in mind, much of the programming at the MARK Conference is aimed at an audience of leaders who want to learn how to change the world.
For example, one of the students who will be speaking at the conference, Samantha Carhuaricra, highlighted the difficulties that many students face in their educational journey and the importance of overcoming them.
“My journey from high school to the college undergraduate experience has been very non-traditional,” Carhuaricra said. “I have dealt with the stigma of attending community college, struggling academically, becoming pregnant, and more.”
“People need to hear that it’s okay if you don’t finish on time, or if you change your mind, and that failure is inevitable,” Carhuaricra continued. “But you should let that experience shape you, motivate you, and help pave the way to figure out what you want for yourself.”
The leadership is mirrored in the planning and execution of the event itself, which is a collaboration between staff members and over fifty student volunteers and leaders, many of whom take on a high level of responsibility and leadership.
“I am extremely proud of my team, especially assistant director Lawrence Owens,” Woodyard said. “Throughout the year, he empowered our intern, our MARK Captains, and our fifty-plus student team members to think outside of the box and create something great for our Rutgers—New Brunswick community.”
The MARK Conference will be held on Saturday, March 1, 2025. You can follow them on Instagram here; If you would like to learn how to get involved next year, you can find information here. For a list of MARK Conference sponsors, click here.
