Business Club hosts Olympic athlete at Leadership and Ethics Symposium

Students listen to Abbey Cooper’s presentation in Thom Auditorium

Photo credit: Sophia Squire

By Sophia Squire

Concordia students welcomed Olympian Abbey Cooper to talk about her journey of faith in Christ through injury with an evening of grit, grace, and giveaways at the Business Club’s Leadership and Ethics Symposium on Tuesday night in Thom auditorium.

Club president Kaylee Powell said the event was important for students because it would show them that everyone can be a leader as a disciple of Christ.

“We want everyone on campus to know that everyone can be a leader,” she said. “At Concordia especially, we get the opportunity to learn what true leadership looks like as followers of Jesus Christ.”

The seats in Thom auditorium were full of a mix of students, coaches, and athletes. Attendees were given free Chick-Fil-A sandwiches, cookies, and raffle tickets for giveaway prizes.

The agenda for the night included three speakers.

Two graduates from the Concordia Business program, Gabrielle Wagner and Cylee Jameson, shared about what their experiences in business taught them about servant leadership, and Abbey Cooper, a 7-time NCAA distance race winner and Olympic athlete, spoke on grit and grace through injury and tribulation in her career.

Freshman business club member Katelyn Nettleton said she believed the content of the symposium would resonate particularly with Concordia’s student-athlete population.

“You have a ton of speakers who will come and talk about an injury and how they overcame it, but I think having it come from somebody who…used her faith through her injuries…opened a lot of seats for athletes to come in and have somebody talk to them about something they’re going through,” she said.

Katie Johnsen is a freshman distance runner who connected with Cooper through her sport. She appreciated how Cooper witnessed Christ to the audience.

“I thought it was really cool how she really tied the Lord into everything,” she said. “[Her solitude] was a backboard for her to get closer to Christ, so it was just really inspiring that way and it was inspiring to see the Holy Spirit working in her talking to us.”

Cooper’s discussion of how her faith brought her through her injuries was also valuable to freshman Zach Bonine, who said that his biggest takeaway was the capability of people in Christ.

“The biggest takeaway was the amount of grit that is possible,” he said. “And the amount of persistence that people are capable of when they are in Christ and pushing through injuries and pushing toward their goals.”

Business club member Joey Long said that whether a student is an athlete or not, it is important to give their life to God and let Him take care of them.

“Athlete or non-athlete, just, the fact that she talked about grit and how, a lot of times when you go through life, you’re going to have things that are hard, but making sure that you just give it to the Lord and let Him control your life no matter what [is important],” she said.

The business club leadership team worked hard over the weeks it took to plan the symposium to increase student awareness and engagement and found it a rewarding experience. They were excited to bring a big name athlete to connect with the students through faith and teach them how to be leaders for Christ.

Powell said the club does not have any more events planned yet but that there are some in the works to look out for.

“We don’t have events scheduled yet but we are in the talks of some very fun and interactive ideas that we can’t wait to share,” she said. “Each event is a great way to network with students and professors on campus.”