Nearly 200 of West Virginia’s most promising high school sophomores are staying on Marshall’s campus this week, participating in unique leadership training, service-learning and motivation-building experiences.
The Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Seminar (HOBY) for West Virginia high school sophomores began Thursday and runs through Sunday on Marshall’s main campus and in downtown Huntington.
Marshall President Stephen J. Kopp helped kick off the seminar Thursday when he welcomed students during the opening ceremonies. Kopp shared with the HOBY attendees, who are selected by their schools to participate, how Marshall students and alumni exhibit the tenets of the HOBY mission: leadership, service and innovation.
Kopp challenged the students to exceed the expectations of those who made it possible for them to attend the seminar, as well as to recognize the importance of a college education for their future and that of the State of West Virginia.
HOBY is named for O’Brian, the motion picture and television star whose claim to fame on TV was when he played legendary lawman Wyatt Earp.
The HOBY organization was established to develop young leaders, and has more than 425,000 alumni nationwide. HOBY’s vision is to motivate and empower individuals to make a positive difference within the global society through understanding and action based on effective and compassionate leadership.
The seminars began in 1978 with sophomores from 45 high schools throughout the state in attendance. From these beginnings, the seminar has grown each year to include annually more than 130 ambassadors. From its roots at Jackson’s Mill, the West Virginia HOBY Seminar has called Alderson Broadus College, University of Charleston, West Virginia State University, Ramada Charleston, and West Virginia University home.
Activities are planned throughout the event, with several guest speakers on the agenda. Jim Justice, owner of The Greenbrier, will speak at 8:30 a.m. Saturday in the Don Morris Room in the Memorial Student Center.
The closing ceremonies are at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Don Morris Room. For more information on the HOBY seminar, call Beth Wolfe, MU’s director of recruitment, at 304-696-6007.
