Pumping up Leadership
Marin Harris
Issue date: 11/10/09 Section: Up Hill, Down Hill
Anyone who is familiar with Denison's campus knows that there are a multitude of student leaders here who are enthusiastic about bettering the organization(s) they lead, but did you know there are actually students who get excited about the idea of bettering just the simple idea of leadership itself on campus? In recognition of this passion for leadership, the Student Activities Office (SAO) has created a Leadership Fellows Program.
According to Natalie Pariano, assistant director of student activities, the creation of the Leadership Fellows program was inspired by the significant interest in the two internships that were available for students in SAO last year.
"We had so much interest in these two internships that I thought it was a shame not to involve more students in the current leadership efforts. Additionally, I saw a significant amount of potential for them to add to the types of leadership programs, services and events we offered to campus," Pariano said.
This year's applications for the fellowships were open to all interested sophomores, juniors and seniors. Pariano says that the application required students to write several essays about their philosophies on leadership, interests and ideas for the Fellowship.
Thereafter, a committee of professionals in the division of Student Affairs read over each application using a rubric of skill sets to identify the top candidates. "There were so many qualified students it was difficult to pick only seven Fellows," Pariano said.
This year's seven leadership fellows are seniors Kristy Barngrover, Rachel Drennen, Kayla Jerome and Emily Julian, junior Shavely Peralta and sophomores H.B. Augustine and Steven Profitt. The program is still in its infancy, so the students are in the process of drafting their mission statement and shaping what they hope to accomplish during their time as Denison's first group of Leadership Fellows. As we might expect from a group of Denison's most outstanding leaders, they have ambitious plans.
According to Natalie Pariano, assistant director of student activities, the creation of the Leadership Fellows program was inspired by the significant interest in the two internships that were available for students in SAO last year.
"We had so much interest in these two internships that I thought it was a shame not to involve more students in the current leadership efforts. Additionally, I saw a significant amount of potential for them to add to the types of leadership programs, services and events we offered to campus," Pariano said.
This year's applications for the fellowships were open to all interested sophomores, juniors and seniors. Pariano says that the application required students to write several essays about their philosophies on leadership, interests and ideas for the Fellowship.
Thereafter, a committee of professionals in the division of Student Affairs read over each application using a rubric of skill sets to identify the top candidates. "There were so many qualified students it was difficult to pick only seven Fellows," Pariano said.
This year's seven leadership fellows are seniors Kristy Barngrover, Rachel Drennen, Kayla Jerome and Emily Julian, junior Shavely Peralta and sophomores H.B. Augustine and Steven Profitt. The program is still in its infancy, so the students are in the process of drafting their mission statement and shaping what they hope to accomplish during their time as Denison's first group of Leadership Fellows. As we might expect from a group of Denison's most outstanding leaders, they have ambitious plans.
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