A group of six LSU E. J. Ourso College of Business students traveled to the Lonestar State recently for the Third Annual Texas Diversity and Leadership Conference & Exposition. Over 4,000 students, professionals, entrepreneurs, and business and community leaders gathered for the event, which was held May 15 and 16, 2007.

Aside from Texas, guests were invited from Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Arkansas to attend the event. Retired General Colin Powell served as the keynote speaker for the conference & exposition, which was hosted by the Texas Diversity Council.

Fay Baptist, a management major from Belize; Darien Dabney, a management major from Baton Rouge, La.; Brian Harris, a finance major from Lake Charles, La.; Tory Landry, a marketing major from Lafayette, La.; Tessa Setiawati, a 2007 finance graduate from Indonesia; and Anuradha Vij, a 2007 management graduate from India all joined Kirsten Edwards, undergraduate academic advisor in the E. J. Ourso College, for the trip.

“We decided to attend because there was a college student component to the conference,” Edwards said. “The students learned so much and got to meet some very influential people. Some of them even left the event with job offers.”

Objectives of the conference included furthering a statewide dialogue on diversity and inclusion in the workplace and community, educating and facilitating benchmarking opportunities for organizations on diversity best practices, furthering the cause of equity and fairness in the workplace, and opening the corporate purchasing and contracting door for certified minority and women owned businesses.

or more information about the conference, visit www.texasdiversityconference.com. For information about the Texas Diversity Council, visit www.texasdiversitycouncil.org.