It's the sound of leadership, community, unity and diversity -- all of which were emanating from the Fiesta Ballroom of Walt Disney World's Coronado Springs Resort earlier this month as nearly 300 student-athletes from across the country and from all three divisions came together for the 5th annual NCAA Foundation Leadership Conference.

This year's conference featured a curriculum designed to impart tools to the student-athletes -- all of whom had been identified by their athletics departments as potential leaders -- so they could become confident, competent agents of change on their college campuses and in their communities.

Student-athletes also discussed a variety of topics -- from sportsmanship to voluntary workouts, dangerous drinking, homophobia, amateurism, American Indian mascots, transfer regulations and the "trust gap" between athletes and administrators.

That evening's all-group activity, while fun and definitely very loud, was more about learning to lead than just about fun. Cameron Tummel, a facilitator from Village Music Circles, led the student-athletes and administrators in an interactive community drum circle (see related story, page A-2).

Every once in a while, Tummel would lead the group to a stop, remarking on what they were learning.

"Just as you've noticed with the instruments, it's important to remember that in life, no one's role is more important than any other. Whether you are the smallest shaker or the biggest, loudest drum, you make a contribution that's important to the group," Tummel said.

"I work with children a lot and I ask them, 'What would it sound like if we all had the exact same drum?' And they always say, 'Oh, that would be boring.' And that's how life is, too. If we were all the same size, shape and color, it would be boring."

At four different intervals in the nearly two-hour drum circle, Tummel had the participants seek out someone they didn't know and swap instruments while introducing themselves.

"What we did here tonight was about music," Tummel said, "but it was also about a lot of other things. It was about learning to use new and unfamiliar tools, learning to adapt, learning to communicate and learning to value the contributions of each other."

Billy Mills, 1964 U.S. gold medalist in the 10,000-meter run, gave the conference's keynote address, speaking to the student-athletes about the challenge of being leaders in today's society.

Mills, a Lakota Sioux American Indian who was born and raised on a South Dakota reservation, told attendees about his childhood dream of Olympic glory and how his father gave him a book about the Olympics and told him about the importance of sport. "Dad said, 'Sport to teach life values is sacred. Sport for sport's sake can be meaningless. Keep sports sacred.' "

Mills said his father also asked him to look inside himself to find the motivation to go on after his mother died.

"When you find that passion, you are self-motivated and willing to do the work needed to succeed. Running was my passion, and the Olympics my dream. My dream became a reality because I pursued my passion."

Mills told the group to assume the mantel of leadership like warriors.

"Living your life as a warrior -- and I'm talking about a warrior, not a mascot -- means this: A warrior assumes self-responsibility, reaches into the community and helps others become responsible," he said.

"A warrior learns the power of humility. It's amazing how we lose ourselves in our own achievement. A warrior also understands the power of giving -- and we must first begin to love and respect ourselves -- and then the warrior centers it around a core of spirituality.

"I challenge you, as student-athletes, to be warriors of sport, academics and society. We need young leaders like you. In your hands are not only your dreams but the dreams of society."

Student-athletes had the chance to explore some controversial and complex issues during the conference in four topical group discussions called "Big Circle Conversations." The concurrent sessions were offered twice so that student-athletes could attend two of the four topics: Civility and Sportsmanship; Tolerance and Celebration of Difference; Dangerous Drinking; and the Trust Gaps within Intercollegiate Athletics.

The student-athletes also learned a problem-solving process drawn from the work of scholar Edward Deming. The seven steps were: highlighting problem areas, identifying and defining a specific problem, collecting and analyzing data, generating solutions, selecting action steps, implementing, and measuring and communicating results.

Student-athletes discussed the Big Circle topics with the problem-solving model in mind, debating how they could analyze data to examine various problems in intercollegiate athletics.

"You can really work with anybody to solve anything using the seven-step process," said Shawn Parker, a psychology major and football and track and field student-athlete at Harvard University. "It's a tool that you can apply to any situation."

"Expand Your Circle of Influence" provided student-athletes with the opportunity to meet with representatives of the NCAA's Management Councils, presidential governing groups and various coaches associations.

NCAA SAAC members from all three divisions also attended the conference, providing student-athletes with several opportunities to discuss national SAAC activities.

Student-athletes spent much of the conference in color-team breakout sessions. Color teams were used to create an environment where individuals could exchange ideas, learn new concepts, discuss, debate and grow.

Each color team was composed of about 25 student-athletes who were placed on teams specifically to create diversity of sport, ethnicity and NCAA division. The NCAA News followed the red team, which was led by facilitators Nancy Bals, assistant athletics director at Westfield State College, and Robert Miles, assistant athletics director for CHAMPS/Life Skills at the University of Georgia.

"The small-team sessions really gave me a chance to discuss problems and gain insight into solutions implemented at other schools," said Karima Wesselhoft, a volleyball player at Hampton University.

Because each student-athlete was expected to emerge from the conference with an action plan to address a campus issue, student-athletes were focused early on.

"This group is so focused," Miles said. "I know they're taking things back and not just enjoying Orlando."

Working in color teams also gave student-athletes a chance to build relationships with each other.

"It creates such a safe, comfortable environment for people to get to know one another," Bals said. "They find out they have more in common with the other student-athletes than they thought."

"The Leadership Conference is turning student-athletes on to leadership and management skills that will help them forever. These student-athletes are people who are going to be working in corporations and on campus, where we need leaders."