Feb 5, 2010 9:22:27 AM

About 65 student-athletes will gather with an administrator from each of the Iowa Conference's nine schools this weekend for the league's first Student-Athlete Leadership Conference.

The participants will be involved in discussions on leadership, diversity, sportsmanship, and integration of the athletics and academic experience during the conference beginning today in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The event also will involve representatives of the NCAA national office, including Bernard Franklin, executive vice president for membership and student-athlete affairs, who will speak Saturday on diversity. Franklin is a graduate of Simpson, one of the conference's member schools.

Also participating will be Sarah MacInnis, NCAA assistant director of educational affairs, who will lead a workshop to explore participants' behavioral styles and their impact on communication with others.

Commissioner Chuck Yrigoyen hopes the event will give Iowa Conference student-athletes an experience similar to that provided at the NCAA's national student-athlete leadership conferences, which he has attended.

"They can be transformative times, and I am hoping for the same result this weekend," he said. "Our student-athletes deserve high-quality programming, and we are thankful to the NCAA for providing grant money that will fund this event."

The conference is supported by the Division III Strategic Initiatives Grant Program, which provides funds to conferences for use in creating programming for student-athletes, among other purposes.

Also participating in the conference will by Robert Malekoff, assistant professor of sports studies at Guilford, who is involved in the College Sports Project's program to promote integration of athletics and educational goals, and Joe Tye, a motivational speaker.

Attendees also will meet via Skype technology with Newbury two-sport student-athlete Amy Chen, who represents both her own New England Collegiate Conference and the Iowa Conference on the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. She will report on recent SAAC activities.