LEADING
DAN DUPRE ’98 Dan DuPre is Special Events Coordinator for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and oversees the Palmetto Sportsman’s Classic and Camp Wildwood. He was selected SCDNR Employee of the Year for the Executive Division in 2018. Dan and Jill Weigle DuPre have been married 18 years and met at CSU. She transferred to Gardner-Webb after 1.5 years at CSU to earn a degree in American Sign Language and Interpreting and is now the Minister to the Deaf at First Baptist Church, Columbia. They have two daughters in 5th and 7th grades. Dan was SGA president and the leader of the Orientation Team while at CSU. Photo provided
Department of Natural Resources My career path was picked prior to coming to CSU. I attended a camp, Camp Wildwood, in the summer of 1989, and through that experience, I knew natural resources education and outreach is where I wanted to be. I landed at DNR nine months after graduating and knew I was a lifer. Our mission is to protect and conserve our state’s natural resources, and what better way than to instill that mission in the youth of South Carolina? Refocusing Your Team in a Global Crisis This year has definitely been a different year. Due to the pandemic, I had to cancel
several programs, but the importance of them never changed. I believe that understanding our goals and objectives and knowing how important the programs are gave me the motivation to stay motivated and motivate my team. We look at it as a pause, and it gives us more time to plan for a better year in 2021. Advice for Your Younger Self Your career is not a sprint but a marathon. Relationships are important, regardless if they are personal or professional. Listen, listen, listen! Don’t be afraid to take more initiative.
Finding Ideas for Events For me, the best ideas are from my team. I like to create an atmosphere that is safe for everyone to share their ideas and that they have ownership of the program. With ownership, there is buy-in, and they care about the goals and objectives. I guess my role is one of a facilitator of ideas. Favorite Team Building Ideas Too many to choose from, but what is interesting is I still use many of the icebreaker activities that we used during the orientation of new students at CSU.
Serving as director for Camp Wildwood is one of DuPre’s passions. Photo provided
Fall 2020, vol.30 no.3
CSU magazine 17
