A signature, four-year program for undergraduates — made possible with a $1.5 million gift from the Marianist Province of the United States — is slated to launch at Chaminade in fall 2018.
The Marianist Center for Leadership Development will stress learning and community building opportunities aimed at helping students grow as lifelong learners, civic-minded members of society — and leaders.
And it will be uniquely place-based, incorporating Marianist, Catholic and Hawaiian values and the principles of ethical leadership.
Dr. Lynn Babington, Chaminade president, noted that the university already counts it as its mission to teach ethical leaders today.
To accomplish that vision, Chaminade sponsors a number of leadership opportunities for students, from peer tutoring to student ambassador programs and from athletics to ministry.
Those programs, university administrators say, offer a strong foundation for Chaminade as it prepares to launch the new center, which aims to:
- Offer undergraduates a differentiated growth opportunity.
- Place experiential learning and civic engagement as the focal point of a rich course of study that will introduce students to a variety of leadership theories.
- And encourage participants to practice effective leadership in their own communities.
The program, Babington said, “is all about development.”
“The Marianist Center for Student Leadership will deliver a core set of content and experiences through which students will learn about leadership models and develop the skills they need to positively impact and transform the world around them,” she said.
And it will foster new connections among diverse groups of students.
Participants in the program will bring different scholarly interests, ways of viewing the world, and opinions about what ethical leadership looks like. They’ll also bring different ideas about how to carry it out.
“It’s not enough in this day and age to know how to lead. You must know how to lead ethically,” said Father Martin Solma, SM, provincial of the Marianist Province of the United States. “Effective, ethical leadership is central to creating a more peaceful world for all.”
Of course, Chaminade celebrates a strong Marianist heritage that dates to the University’s founding. Those values will prove central at the new leadership center.
Students who complete the center’s four-year program will also earn a certificate of leadership development, and they’ll be versed on differing leadership models thanks to hands-on learning and assessments.
The center will be directed by Chaminade’s vice president for mission.
Read Dr. Lynn Babington’s Pacific Business News Interview here.
