Juniors are engaged in the Evolving Leaders Program, with their activity focused on small reading and discussion groups, serving as mentors for first-year students or designing and implementing a service project on their own. Advancing Leaders, seniors at Cornell, join with mentors from the community in a set of activities designed to help them plan their transition from leadership in college to leadership in their communities after college. These leadership programs serve a broader purpose at the college. Not all students can participate in these programs, and we think that leadership development should not be limited to a few students. Therefore, we look to these programs as a training ground for leaders of campus organizations.
Leadership development can become a theme for a wide range of activities outside the classroom.
After all, much of the experience on an athletic team or in a residence hall, social group, or campus activity is about leadership. We aspire to be much more deliberate about helping our students seize these opportunities. Leadership is often learned in an internship where a student has the chance to observe, work, and learn with an established leader. Attorney Julia Gutz 88, president-elect of the Alumni Association Board of Directors, developed a valuable relationship with a mentor during her internship at a Cedar Rapids bank and now works in the banking industry. He proposes that creative individuals learn their mastery of a field by working closely with an established master.