Last Wednesday, I experienced an event unlike any other event I had attended that was held by a University. After my last class of the day, I headed down to the Multipurpose Room and was simply blown away by its transformation. Walking through the hallway and into the Multipurpose Room made it feel as if I was leaving the school to enter an elegant restaurant with fancy decorations. As I entered, I was greeted by a friendly host who escorted me to my assigned table. The rest of the night was then simply filled with entertaining conversations, wonderful service, and amazing food, all in one sociable atmosphere. 

So what is this one-of-a-kind event that I attended?

It was the Leadership Bistro on campus that is held as a way to thank student leaders (USG Ambassadors, New Student Orientation Leaders, GSS Leaders, Writing Fellows, Student Workers, and Presidents/Vice Presidents of student organizations) for their outstanding leadership on campus . It was a very unique opportunity to be able to network in a professional and enjoyable environment with other students that have similar goals and passions about leadership within the USG community as I do.

The Office of Student Services arranges the event in collaboration with other programs. The students in the Hospitality and Tourism Management Program, a program at UMES, have the opportunity to engage in experiential learning by working through the entire process of preparing the food being served all the way to hosting the main event as if they were managing this dining event at a high-profile restaurant. In addition, it allows student leaders to be the special guests for the event and come together to have a professional dining experience and build their network by interacting with other student leaders at USG.

When the concept of USG was initially developed, it had the ability to create a collaboration of top programs from nine of Maryland’s leading public universities all under one facility. Reinforcing this collaboration concept, the Leadership Bistro, with its unique dining experience, is one of the many ways USG continues to bring the students of this “school of many schools” together.