Leadership Center names Matt Clark December 2021 Student Leader of the Month

Junior fashion merchandising major with double minors in leadership and geography Matt Clark is the recipient of the Kent State University Leadership Center’s Student Leader of the Month.

The Student Leader of the Month program seeks to recognize students for excellence in leadership through campus and community involvement.

Thomas Neipsuj nominated Clark.

He said:

“Matt is one of the strongest student leaders I know. Since I have graduated, he is one of the few student leaders that I still stay connected with and actively see his impact. Most recently, I saw him excel as Sig Ep's philanthropy chair. He raised over $1,000 for suicide prevention with an exciting "Egg an Ep" event that was help for 12 hours and got lots of community support and expanded past the traditional Greeks only philanthropy format. Matt is also heavily involved with SSP and has grown a lot as a leader. He uses these experiences to aid in USG and IFC. IFC is of particular importance because Matt sits as the diversity chair for the board. He is fully aware that he is a straight white male and that it is almost ironic that he sits in this position, but he is a true statement of a privileged identity fighting for minorities and those less represented.”

Neipsuj continued:

“He works on connecting the commu

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nity, bringing awareness to equity and inclusion of diverse identities, and is even working with IFC on diversity workshops. Something we do not see a lot of in the IFC community. He has just grown a lot as a leader, and it is cool to see this growth out of a young man that still has so much time left at the university. He is self-aware, driven, and hopes to one day use his career to help with the sustainability and abuse of labor within the fashion industry, which I think is admirable. He is also very comfortable learning, growing, and sharing what he learns with others, which I saw a lot with him as a peer leader trainer with SSP. Matt is just overall a great kid that deserves so much recognition and a true shout-out for the hard work he puts out into the University, the community, and one day the whole world.”

Clark was humbled by the award and said his leadership skills had played a significant factor in his success thus far.

“I feel that my ability to connect with a lot of different types of people helped me greatly in this nomination. I am also an approachable and laid-back leader, and I think that resonates with people,” he said. As a student leader, you can often second guess yourself, and the validation and recognition from this award tells me that I am doing something right and motivates me to keep working and impacting students and our community.

For being selected Student Leader of the Month, Clark will receive a commemorative certificate, a Kent State t-shirt, a $15 gift card to the Kent State bookstore, along with being recognized on the Leadership Center website, monthly newsletter, and the @KentStateLeads Instagram page. He will also enjoy lunch with Assistant Vice President for Student Engagement and Services Gary Goldberg and Senior Vice President for Student Affairs, Dr. Lamar Hylton.

To nominate a Student Leader of the Month, visit www.kent.edu/csi/student-leader-month.

For more information on the Leadership Center, visit www.kent.edu/csi/leadership.