Ducks Unlimited has been a tradition in Collin Cahills family for years. When he decided to attend Arkansas State University, he knew he wanted to be involved in the schools DU University chapter. His freshman year, Cahill reached out to the graduating chairman and offered to take it over.

Throughout the past few years Cahill and the Arkansas State committee members have worked hard to grow the chapter and are constantly working to be more successful. The chapter has established an executive board to assist the committee with tasks, recruitment strategies, event planning, and sponsorships. Cahill explained that one reason the chapter is successful is because of its location and community support.

The owner of the restaurant where we hold our event is a huge DU supporter, so hes always doing what he can to work with our chapter, Cahill said. Our chapter is all about bringing people together for the common good. At our event, people form relationships and network with so many people who can all find a middle ground in duck hunting and conservation.

The Arkansas State University chapter hosts two events each year, in spring and fall. The spring event is catered to warmer-weather items while the fall event offers hunting items. This past year, the fall event had more that 230 event attendees, a 120-person increase from the previous year.

Cahill said the chapters success has been made possible by DUs University Leadership Summit, Third Term, which has also helped him grow professionally. I went into Third Term as a freshman at Arkansas State and as a new leader for the chapter, he said. Third Term taught me how to be a good leader, and I learned so many new ideas about how to successfully advertise, recruit, and run a successful event. Third Term is a must for all college DU volunteers. You can meet other volunteers from across the country who have the same passion and drive for running successful university chapters. Being able to work with other volunteers from different schools and share ideas with them really helped our chapter be successful. It also helped broaden my experience as I move into my career.

To learn more about how you can make a difference in conservation and get involved with a university chapter near you, visit ducks.org/volunteer. To view great work being done by other university chapters, visit the University Chapter Spotlight page.