Fifty-five young adults from all over Alaska converged on the UAF campus Jan. 13-16 to mull over issues affecting all Alaskans and to meet other up-and-coming leaders from around the state. The Conference of Young Alaskans was hailed as a "huge success," both by organizers and participants.

"We couldn't have planned it to work out better," said Ian Hebert, who sat on the steering committee for the Conference of Young Alaskans. "It was perfect. We were able to pack an incredible amount of discussion into four days."

UAF holds the distinction of being the location where, 50 years ago, 55 delegates from around the state gathered to author the Constitution of the State of Alaska. In honor of Alaska's founders and their historic undertaking, high school students, postsecondary students, and young members from Alaska's workforce shared their vision for Alaska's future over four days of intense discussion, compiling a report to be sent to the governor, the state legislature and others.

Potential delegates were asked to write an essay describing their dream for Alaska, while also addressing the conference's five discussion areas: education, leadership, natural resources, healthy communities and families, and the Alaska dream. From about 400 essays, steering committee members selected 55 delegates to attend the conference in Fairbanks.

"They chose an educational institution, which shows a deeper appreciation for education in our state," said Terin Walton-Rantz, a conference delegate from Fairbanks. "It was cool because it really put the emphasis, like President Hamilton said, that yards away is where our state constitution was created."

Committee members chose 55 delegates based on the quality of their essay and attempted to get a rich cross-section of Alaskans that featured members from as many communities as possible. The selection process was entirely non-partisan, Hebert said, and resulted in a very diverse group and engaging discussions.

One contentious issue that the delegates dealt with involved an amendment to the state constitution defining marriage as between a man and a woman. After much debate on the topic, and attempts to block the resolution, conference delegates voted in favor of repealing the ban on same-sex marriage.

Delegates also argued over allowing drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, asking the state to take control of the UA land trust, and aerial wolf control. On the last day of the conference, the dust settled, and the delegates decided the UA land trust should stay the same, they would allow drilling in ANWR, and that they would not ask for a ban on aerial wolf control.

"It really made us try our patience," Walton-Rantz said. "In the end, we were all still comrades."

"Sometimes when you're in a room with 55 leaders, they don't want to follow," she added.

Hebert agreed, noting that in the conference setting, there are going to be some naturally dominant voices and others who are less inclined to speak up.

"We made sure everybody had a voice," he said.

Both Hebert and Walton-Rantz said the general consensus among conference delegates was that the next step was to take their message to state leaders like Gov. Murkowski and state legislators.

"We need to actually go there and ask, 'OK, have you guys done this, and how are you going to do it?'" Walton-Rantz said.

The delegates also want to have another conference in 2009, the 50th anniversary of Alaska statehood. The Conference of Young Alaskans was part of the Creating Alaska Project, a three-year project to research and commemorate the 50th anniversaries of both the Alaska Constitutional Convention and Alaska's statehood. For more information, go to www.alaska.edu/creatingalaska/