This year, Xavier University of Louisiana’s chapter of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) hosted the organization’s Regional Conference, an annual event where pharmacy students gather to network and learn more about how pharmacists can impact the health of individuals and communities. Across two days at the Sheraton New Orleans, Xavier’s chapter of SNPhA provided pharmacy students from different parts of the country with the experience and opportunities to grow their network and develop their professional skills.

With its excellent record of being one of the top producers of Black graduates with Doctor of Pharmacy degrees and quickly approaching its historic centennial, Xavier University of Louisiana has been at the forefront of SNPhA since its establishment in 1972. Organized by two students from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, the organization that now spans five different regions nationally, has been dedicated to planning, organizing, coordinating, and executing programs that work toward improving the health, educational, and social environments of minority communities. This work includes its annual regional conferences for student members of the organization. As a host this year, Xavier’s chapter of SNPhA welcomed Region III (Midwest Region), Region IV (Southwest Region), and Region V (West Coast Region, including Hawaii and Alaska) to New Orleans.

“This [conference] is just a reminder for us to continue on our paths, to consider those that are underserved and to really think holistically in being agents in the community with service and our leadership,” said Tori Wiley, the 2021-2022 president of Xavier’s chapter of SNPhA as she addressed student pharmacists at the conference. “Whatever place or field that we end up [in], we do have a role, and our impact will matter and does matter today; so, do not forget that as you navigate this conference and even go back to your chapters and schools. What you do, day in and day out matters.”

Those in SNPhA are dedicated to the pharmacy profession and serving the underserved. This year’s conference, themed “Mobilizing to Transformational Impact,” allows the chapter to do just that by providing pharmacy student attendees with leadership and professional development workshops, inspiring them to make an impact in underserved communities and the pharmacy profession.

Xavier’s SNPhA arranged for members of the Xavier University of Louisiana College of Pharmacy (COP) and the Greater New Orleans communities to speak and hold workshops during the conference. These speakers included staff and faculty of Xavier’s COP, including Dr. Kathleen Kennedy, the Dean of the COP. Other COP participants, including Xavier alums Dr. Ruston Henry (‘85), Dr. Janel Bailey-Wheeler (‘96), Dr. Christopher Gillard (‘11), Dr. Thomas Maestri (‘14), Dr. Raven Jackson (‘14), and Dr. Ericka Lassair (‘22). These speakers expressed what many Xavier pharmacy students learn throughout their time in the COP: that they can—and will—be impactful to the health of the communities that they serve.

“We need to make an impact to change behavior, to improve health outcomes, and as transformational leaders, you can do that. You can be a part of what’s needed in this country to achieve health equity,” said Dr. Kennedy to the student pharmacists present at the conference.

Attendees of the conference could attend speaker workshops, delegates’ business sessions, a clinical skills competition, research poster presentations, sponsor exhibits and workshops, and various opportunities to network with other students and pharmacists from Regions III, IV, and V. The activities were designed to inspire and equip members of SNPhA with skills and knowledge to elevate their impact as pharmacists in underserved communities. As the theme suggested, those who attended the conference were called to mobilize in their respective chapters and communities and be change agents and leaders that could transform the landscape of health and health outcomes to work toward achieving health equity across the country.