Leveraging a Guest Speaker Event to Advance Transformative Change for At-Risk Student Success

Abstract

Guest speakers can be leveraged as effective pedagogical tools to support classroom and program goals, raise cultural sensitivity, connect academia and community, and provide role models for students (Sniezek, 2005). This article serves to discuss the application of Appreciative Education to the planning and execution of a guest speaker event, “Breaking Chains: Gang to Graduation”, at Western Michigan University (WMU), to help readers gain an understanding of how to orchestrate a successful event at their institution. Event coordinator, Christine Robinson, shares information on the experience and offers her perspectives on how a guest speaker event can be an effective tool around transformative, systemic change in higher education.