Nearly 50 ISU women were given the chance to become leaders this weekend at the Women’s Leadership Retreat.

From 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Saturday, attendees had opportunities to better themselves by listening to guest speakers, networking and participating in group discussions. The event in Hach Hall was free for undergraduate and graduate female students.

“The Women’s Leadership Retreat is designed to give any student, but particularly female students, [an] opportunity to learn about who they are as a leader to understand themselves a little bit more,” said Kevin Merrill, the leadership and service coordinator for the Student Activities Center.

The event is cosponsored by the Margaret Sloss Women’s Center, the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics and the Student Activities Center.

“There was a collaboration of individuals who decided there needed to be more programs designed specifically towards women leaders,” Merrill said. “Any time we are helping a student gain leadership skills, it is beneficial for the entire campus community.”

The registration for this year’s event was completely filled.

Kristine Perkins, the public relations and student programs coordinator at the Catt Center for Women and Politics, was on the planning committee and said this is her third year being involved with the retreat.

“This year, we are focusing on creating a strong team, conflict management, micro aggressions and how to address them and managing stress,” Perkins said.

The event’s attendees also have a chance to meet other women leaders.

“They also have a chance to network with women at Iowa State who are interested in leadership and developing other leaders,” Merrill said. “They get to learn from other women leaders and what they’ve gone through.”

Gabrielle King, junior in kinesiology and health, attended the event in order to improve herself as a peer mentor.

“I definitely feel that the activities helped,” King said. “I think everyone here has their own leadership position, so I think it was good for all of us to connect. There were speakers who are leaders who talked to us and really made me think. I thought that was really important.”

Rachel Schroeder, junior in psychology, feels that events such as the retreat that addresses women’s issues is important to be a part of.

“It’s hard to be a woman when you’re trying to accomplish certain things,” Schroeder said. “The fact that this was for women students, and it’s about learning how to be a leader, that’s a good skill.”

However, there was not a major emphasis on gender at the retreat, attendees said. 

“I think the most thing valuable we talked about was the social and political capital session,” said Zoe Kustritz, junior in industrial design and president of ISU College Democrats. “There were a lot of things I hadn’t thought about, like information flow and workplace dynamics. I think that doesn’t get addressed a lot in general. I think thinking about that is a really constructive thing to do.”

Perkins said the lessons learned are meant to translate to real life.

“We cover a broad range of topics,” Perkins said. “We want them to feel like they can take it back to wherever they are in life and apply it as soon as possible. That might be leadership positions on campus or after graduation.”

King said the most valuable thing she took away was being comfortable and confident networking with people.

“Some women are really outgoing, and some really struggle trying to talk to people,” King said. “I think it’s important for everyone in general to be comfortable and confident with public speaking and connecting with others who are in the same boat as them.”

The presenters at the retreat come from the Ames community or the ISU community. Two guest speakers from Iowa State included Hillary Kletscher and Mike Hoefer, president and vice-president of the Government of the Student Body.

Perkins said the committee in charge of organizing the retreat has been planning since May. Perkins said that the retreat works toward the same mission every year.

“We want to put on a great retreat for women to become leaders on campus and in their lives,” Perkins said. “We want to encourage to get more involved with leadership opportunities if they are not already.”

Merrill said he believes that leadership looks different to different kinds of people, especially at different points in their lives. 

“When you broadly talk about leadership, it doesn’t always paint the right picture for women leaders and some of the challenges they face,” Merrill said. “Should women back off from their careers? Should they hit it full force knowing that they may have a family later, and what does that look like? It’s something that historically our country has always needed to have a session that targets these specific leadership topics. It hasn’t gone away, and it’s still a current issue.”

Next year’s Women’s Leadership Retreat is planned for November 2015.