United Council’s biggest event of the year is coming up fast, so make sure to register today for the Building Unity Student Empowerment Conference. On March 5-7, 2010, hundreds of student leaders from all over Wisconsin will converge at UW-Madison for a weekend of informative workshops, leadership trainings, inspiring speeches and great networking opportunities.

Building Unity seeks to foster an inclusive, effective student movement that recognizes the experiences of all students. The conference will explore intersections of multiple identities to work toward an understanding that a strong student movement means fighting for social justice by examining sexism, racism, classism, ableism, homophobia and other forms of oppression within and outside higher education.

The conference will open on Friday evening with a panel of Wisconsin’s progressive leaders speaking on issues of higher education and activism. Workshops will fill the agenda throughout Saturday and on Sunday morning, and a keynote address by student activism historian Angus Johnston (www.studentactivism.net) will occur over lunch on Saturday. On Saturday evening, students are invited to attend the United Council 50^th Anniversary Gala at Monona Terrace (student tickets are just $25!) or enjoy a screening of the documentary "Papers," the story of undocumented youth and the challenges they face as they turn 18 without legal status.

This year’s Building Unity has something for every student; there will be workshops on multicultural issues, shared governance rights, gender and women’s issues, current issues in the UW System, LGBTQ issues, student government skills, legislative issues, grassroots organizing skills, and more. There will be advanced workshops and sessions for beginners in every area. Seasoned student leaders can connect with active students on other campuses and build better coalitions; new student activists can get the tools they need to make change on their campuses.

The conference is free to all students at UC member campuses, and just $30 for non-member students and lunch is provided on Saturday. Contact your student government to see if they are allocating funds for travel to and lodging at the event. Call your friends in Madison and crash with them for the weekend! Do what you can to make it this conference--you’ll be glad you did.

Please find attached to this post, the Building Unity save-the-date, convention registration form and workshop submission form. All students and community members who are interested in facilitating a workshop at Building Unity and encouraged to complete and submit a workshop submission form. Please contact Shared Governance and Inclusivity Director Kelley Schacht at isg@unitedcouncil.net for more details.