First Cohort of Leadership Fellows Heading to Ghost Ranch
An intense week-long immersion in leadership development awaits a
group of Alma College students who will be traveling to the desert of
New Mexico Aug. 7-13.
The inaugural class of 48 Alma College leadership fellows will attend
the first Leadership Development Institute at Ghost Ranch, a
Presbyterian-affiliated conference center in Abiquiu, N.M.
The students will engage in programming designed by Alma College
faculty and staff through the Center for Responsible Leadership in
partnership with LeaderShape, a professional organization with a
mission of developing young adults to “lead with integrity.”
“Our goal is to profoundly influence our students as they develop the
skills and abilities to lead with conviction and enthusiasm,” said Dr.
John Leipzig, The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation Leadership
Chair and director of Alma College’s Center for Responsible Leadership.
“All students at Alma College will be leaders at a particular time in
select aspects of their lives, and the Center for Responsible
Leadership provides opportunities for students to broaden their
leadership experiences while at Alma College. The Fellows Program, a
cornerstone of the Center, is a co-curricular initiative that is not
for credit but enhances and makes meaning of the academic experience,
mentors students how to lead change, strengthens their developing sense
of ethical purpose and commitment, and increases their understanding of
the long-term impact of their decisions on the health and well-being of
organizations and communities,” he said.
The selection of Ghost Ranch as the site of Alma’s first Leadership
Development Institute was intentional because it “severs links to the
conventional,” said Ed Lorenz, Reid-Knox Professor of History,
professor of political science and one of the facilitators accompanying
the Alma College students to New Mexico.
“We want to make students think about life — and the high desert in a
multicultural world near both 1,000-year-old pueblos and the center for
atomic bomb making has to make any observer think,” said Lorenz. “What
is wise use of resources? What is permanent? What needs preservation?
What needs to change?”
The institute at Ghost Ranch will further embed in the thinking the
fellows, mostly College sophomores, the core principles of effective
and ethical leadership.
Activities will include both small and large group activities and
exercises along with the involvement of guest leaders and facilitators.
Daily topics include “Building Community,” “The Value of One, the Power
of All,” “Challenge What Is, Look At What Could Be,” “Bringing Vision
to Reality,” “Living as Leaders With Integrity,” and “Staying in
Action.”
The fellows were selected through a competitive application process.
“The students were asked to define what leadership means to them and
why they wanted to be a part of the fellows program,” said Leipzig.
“These students are committed to not only developing the skills and
abilities to be responsible leaders but to have an obligation to give
back to society through service and socially responsible decisions.”
The summer institute will launch the fellows into a three-year program of experiences and opportunities:
• In their junior year, the fellows will participate in a Global
Leadership Institute through an experience outside the United States.
“This will not be just a trip to experience a different culture, but it
will include a service component that directly engages the students
with the local culture, economy, geography and challenges,” said
Leipzig.
• In their senior year, the fellows will apply their skills to an issue
important to the state of Michigan. “Students, for example, could be
involved in a summit on the environment, or employment, or education —
an issue to yet be determined in which the students apply their
leadership skills in a demonstrable way in a Michigan context,” said
Leipzig.
• In addition, the fellows will participate in monthly seminars on
contemporary leadership issues, complete an internship with a mentoring
experience, and help organize and deliver a five-day High School
Leadership Institute scheduled for the summer of 2007.
The Leadership Fellows Program is the signature component of Alma’s new
Center for Responsible Leadership, which builds on the College’s
existing emphasis on public service and civic engagement while also
addressing the needs of the workplace. In addition to the fellows
program, the Center encompasses a large network of
leadership-development opportunities for all Alma students, including
book discussions, leaders-in-residence, academic courses with a
leadership emphasis, off-campus service trips, and faith-based
experiences.
“We’re not just teaching students how to be ‘in charge,’ but how to
bring about positive change regardless of one’s position, title or
academic background,” said Lorenz. “More than making people smart, we
want to focus on making future leaders wise — not merely doing
what is necessary to succeed but what is necessary to do good, to be
stewards of their inherited resources.”
This fall, the Center will host senior statesmen and former
presidential candidates Robert Dole and George McGovern for a
discussion on leadership and civility. The inaugural Center for
Responsible Leadership Speaker Series forum will take place Sept. 27 in
Cappaert Gymnasium in the Hogan Physical Education Center on the Alma
campus. Admission is free and open to the public.
-mjs-
Posted: Thu, July 13th, 2006 at 9:11AM
