The Student and Alumni Leadership Reception is a networking event for student leaders hosted by Temple University’s Office of the President and the Office of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving. This year’s reception was held on Feb. 19 on the multipurpose level of Morgan Hall. This is the third year that the two offices have collaborated on the spring event, while alumni and university leaders also attend to interact with students. Student leaders across Temple’s colleges are invited to the event, and Klein College of Media and Communication students were no exception.

Invitations for the leadership reception went out in January to student leaders with involvement on campus. The Klein students who were invited have not only cultivated relationships with the faculty and staff within the college, but also hold roles in extracurricular clubs and organizations that interest them. Some of their memberships and leadership roles include Lambda Pi Eta, the National Communication Association’s honor society; student publications like Freely Magazine and professional organizations like the Temple Association of Black Journalists and the Public Relations Student Society of America.

Siani Colón, a senior journalism student, was at the leadership reception as a representative of the Latinx Media Association. Her role as the engagement and community outreach coordinator for the organization speaks to her commitment to media as a force for change. Her previous positions as the assistant director for engagement for The Temple News and the community service coordinator for Temple’s Feminist Alliance are examples of her varied interests. 

“It was really great to be recognized since I feel like I sometimes fly under the radar on campus. So to be recognized, being seen, and getting the work I have been doing these past four years I’ve been at Temple has been really great to get that recognition and be invited,” Colón says.

Paul Curcillo, CST '84 is the president of the Temple University Alumni Association. Although the association does not have an official capacity at the leadership reception, Curcillo says that he likes to come to the event to witness and take part in building connections between students and alumni. He believes that the “bottom line” purpose of the event is for current alumni to train up the alumni of the future.

Similarly, Colón believes that the leadership reception is a useful space to explore interests and make connections with alumni who can expand her way of thinking and the scope of her influence.

“It’s great for the university to hold a space for student leaders because it’s really the students [who] make the university, make the whole entire experience and help it grow,” Colón says. “So it’s really great to have the space to connect with one another as well as the alumni since we will be alumni very soon as well.”

Klein students leaders invited to the event are listed below:

Matthew Altea
Precious Antwi
Shayla Chambers
Siani Colón
Max Eagle
Lauryn Edmondson 
Alaina Ellis
Naomi Grandison
Brynna Haupt
Thomas Hernandez
Le Hoang
Paolo Lee
Tarahgee Morris
Zoe Petty
Meghan Soloman
Luisa Suarez
Samuel Trilling
Hayley William