16th Annual Southeastern African American Student Leadership Conference

Conference Mission

Today SEAASLC includes a number of creative and informative workshops focusing on leadership and other topics affecting African American and other minority student leaders.  The conference incorporates history, morals and values, leadership skills, self-improvement techniques, as well as community involvement opportunities to inspire and motivate African American collegians to be more productive leaders of today and tomorrow.  Through this conference participants take the initiative to educate themselves, focus on their futures, and address the issues and problems within their communities by proposing solutions. 

At each conference, distinguished guests reiterate the conference’s ongoing theme, “Followers of Yesterday: Leaders of Tomorrow” in unique presentations as they articulate the importance of minority leadership in society.  They emphasize the significance of culture, history, unity, and leadership through their keynote speeches and performances.  SEAASLC is dedicated to fostering great African American student leadership.  The conference recognizes that today’s leaders are tomorrow’s history makers.

It is imperative that we all unite in our efforts to combat ignorance and create a better world through leadership and education.   By combining our knowledge of the past, our actions of the present, and committing ourselves to the future, we are destined to fulfill our potential success!

Conference History

The Black Student Leadership Network of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington recognized the need for a forum in which African American students in North Carolina could address their problems and concerns, and develop their leadership skills.  Thus, they founded the first annual North Carolina African American Student Leadership Conference in February 1993.  The initial support for the conference came from a grant from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. 

For three consecutive years the conference grew, and because of the increasing interest of schools outside of North Carolina and in an effort to better reflect the region of the student population it served, in 1996 the North Carolina African American Student Leadership Conference (NCAASLC) became the Southeastern African American Student Leadership Conference (SEAASLC). 

Through the rising participation of African American and other minority students, SEAASLC continues to fulfill its legacy of leadership, making it a successful vehicle for both the African American community and its students.  The conference is traditionally held on the first weekend of February, uniting students, faculty, staff, and nationally renowned speakers. SEAASLC, now supported through conference fees and the host institution, is hosted in alternate years by a willing college or university, but returns home to the University of North Carolina Wilmington biannually.