By Erin Walker, Staff Writer

Every year students from all 28 Jesuit institutions across the United States gather for the annual National Jesuit Student Leadership Conference (NJSLC). This year the conference will be hosted by Xavier from July 13 to 16. 

This will be the second time Xavier has hosted the conference since it was started by Regis University in 1997. The theme for this year’s conference is “Queen City with a Jesuit Heart” after Cincinnati’s nickname, “The Queen City.”

Xavier hopes to welcome around 200 students and advisors from Jesuit universities to campus this July, according to Sophie Roepke. Roepke is the Associate Director for Leadership and Transition Programs and Chair of 2026 NJSLC Planning Committee. The conference will be completely run by Xavier affiliates, students and faculty members.

The conference will start with an opening Mass and dinner, then throughout the convention there will be educational session blocks, keynote speakers, a service component and city outing. A major event Xavier hopes to pull off is sending the conference attendees on a riverboat cruise on the Ohio River.

Xavier also looks to take on a bigger hands-on service component this year on that Wednesday by working with the Center for Faith and Justice (CFJ) to send attendees in groups to a service organization in Cincinnati. “We’re hopeful to offer a format similar to Community Action Day and have conference attendees perform service and also learn a little bit about area nonprofits, service organizations that are impactful to the community,” Sophie Roepke.

Sophomore Allison Gorius, a Philosophy, Politics, and the Public major, attended NJSLC last year at Saint Louis University. Gorius recalled attending sessions about building relationships within a team alongside going to explore a new city. 

“(My favorite part) was getting closer to the actual Xavier people that went, because obviously I spent a lot of time in SGA, but it was just cool to explore a new city with them and eat out with them,” Gorius said.

NJSLC has been in the planning phase since December of 2025, when Roepke first submitted the bid for Xavier to host. Currently all the planning is done within a committee consisting of Ray Flannery, Director of Student Organizations, Maeve Kirby, Director of Residence Life, Derek Goeglein, Director of Events and Conference Services, junior Neala Kline and sophomore Emily Ruschman.

 The committee meets every Thursday where they work on a budget to account for logistics such as food, housing and transportation costs. Xavier students will also be welcome to volunteer during conferences through creating presentations and working for conference and event services. 

The conference is open to all students who are interested. They can apply at xavier.edu\NJSLC which acts as an initial RSVP. The conference fee is $450, but Roepke is hopeful student leaders who want to attend can be sponsored by their student organization to partially cover that fee.

“We’re hopeful there will be a lot of interest, because it’s a really unique opportunity to network with like-minded individuals from all over the country who are going to come and see Xavier,” Roepke said.