Thinking Outside the Blog - Guest Blogger

Vol 2 No 31

Opportunity in life is everywhere, perhaps no more so than during your college experience.  This week's guest blog comes from Jennie Erdle, Director of Student Life and member of the Honor's Advisory Board.  Profoundly dedicated to student academic, intellectual, emotional, and social success, Jennie's office does amazing work for students.  In this guest blog, she reflects on one of those projects.  Not just a past project, but a project that continues on.  Information on how to be involved in Fall 2018 is included.

Thinking outside the Blog…

Honors Studies meets Women’s Initiative on Leadership and Curiosity Blooms

At the end of Fall 2017, Dr. Trista Merrill, Director of Honors Studies approached Jennie Erdle, Director of Student Life with an idea she was curious about. In an attempt to expand opportunities for students to gain more Honors Studies points, Dr. Merrill inquired about the Women’s Initiative on Leadership program that has been on campus for 5 years. Dr. Merrill herself has served as both a guest speaker, mentor, and part of networking sessions and was able to experience first-hand the impact this program has made on our student participants and how simple it might be to be interconnected back to their studies. You see, “Women” maybe in the title and yes, that is for sure the focus of this homegrown leadership program, but in truth this program has yielded over 480 student participants including women, men, transgender, and those students on the full gender spectrum showcasing both fluid identity and expression. For the first time in Spring 2018, this program counted towards Honors Studies Program points and within two short weeks of advertising we had four Honors Studies students participate, two of which had completed the leadership program in previous semesters.

This Fall 2018 Student Life will be kicking off their 6^th year, and the program itself has undergone a bit of a pick-me-up. With the ever changing societal influences, the program has updated some of the information that will be shared, so in a way it’s to keep the program vital and relevant to the rising tides of change. One small but important inclusionary item will be the addition of the theory behind Revolutionary Love in a Time of Rage, by Valarie Kaur. For more information on this, please take a moment to watch this Ted Talk found on You Tube. It is our greatest hope that with the inclusion of this topic will aid in arming students with additional skills to persevere though their college years with us and beyond. 

If you know a student who could benefit from not only extra Honors Studies points, but students who could benefit from a bit of self-discovery, civil discourse, and above all, is looking for a unique way to connect to the college, please do have them reach out to Jennie Erdle to be able to get them signed up.

Thank you and hope everyone is having a great summer!!

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"Women's Initiative on Leadership taught me far more than leadership skills, and actually had me walking away with an increased understanding [of myself]" - Jill