Baylor academy emphasizes change through service

BY MATTHEW WALLER

NEKPEN OSUAN never knew exactly what kind of response she would get from the person sit-

ting across from her. After serving a plate of warm potatoes, eggs and pancakes, she would try to make casual conversation with the homeless people who came to First Lutheran Church's kitchen for Mission Waco's Friday morning breakfast. Sometimes her interviewees would appreciate the conversation and open up, and other times, they would just want to be left alone. Yet through those varied responses, Osuan learned that anyone could be homeless.
"They share stories as anyone would, and they describe their life's journey," Osuan says. Some struggle from substance abuse and mental illness , others have lost jobs or lack support from family and friends. There's not just oneface ofthe homeless person," she says. The Houston junior conducted her interviews as part of a plan she developed through Baylor University's Academy for Leader Development and Civic Engagement. She wanted to work with the City of Waco Homelessness Initiative in its efforts to establish permanent housing for the chronic homeless because she felt called to serve some of society's least fortunate. The Academy is her guide to shaking up the world. "The Academy wants to help students develop a life of leadership. Not to see leadership as a position or a destination, but as a lifestyle, and to use whatever particular gifts God has given them to the service of others," says Frank Shushok, dean for student learning and engagement. Students are involved in the program, which launched in 2004, on three levels: leadership development classes, the Academy Fellow Program and the Leadership Living Learning Center. All three areas work toward the goal of producing the servant leader, Shushok says. Baylor is at the forefront of implementing this concept on the college campus. It attracts students who have had leadership experience in high school and want to continue a lifestyle of service, says Ramona Curtis, the University's director for Leader Development and Civic Engagement. Curtis attended a conference last year at Arizona State University of the Leadership Educators Institute where 60 colleges were represented. "We're looking at how others do leadership, but we're also finding our own voice," she says. In addition to a focus on Christian principles, Baylor's leadership program is unique in that it has made service to others the foundation ofleadership, she says. 'The workforce needs it and the community needs it," Curtis says. "Whether it's with the employees or with the clients, there's a moral and ethical compass provided by a service orientation that keeps people grounded. It's not just about being a doctor, but about having a moral fiber and a purpose to serve the common good. " Companies such as AT&T, Southwest Airlines and Starbucks all have made servant leadership part of their business models.

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adership in the classroom

T e mos basic level of Academy involve ent comes through leadership classe or through groups such as the an Leadership Organization and ylor Leadership Council, Shushok says. The most intensive involvement is found in the Fellow Program , in which students complete a 50-hour civic engagement project in addition to classes. "There are lots of levels at which you can be involved with the Academy," Shushok says. Osuan, left, conducts experiments for loca l children during an Academy sponStudents learn about their strengths sored science fair. Collins, right, discusses service projects during an Academy and formulate a mission statement in the first course, Leadership Development. The planning meeting . second course teaches servant leadership nutrition habits that were different from my own." by focUSing on the writings and philosophy of Robert Collins' ideas about leadership changed as he realGreenleaf, an author, lecturer and business consultant ized the necessity of understanding his interviewees' who has pioneered the servant leader concept. perspectives. "You need to be knowledgeable of differFellow candidates also must take either a Great Text ent cultures and people's viewpoints," he says. course examining connections between leadership After the research project ended, Weaver took and text selections from the Bible, Pascal, St. Thomas Collins to the 34th North American Primary Care Aquinas, Machiavelli and Dickens, or they must take Research Group's Annual Meeting in Tucson, Ariz. , to an upper-level management course about organizapresent the findings. Collins was the first nonmedical tion and leadership in a changing world. A seniorstudent to attend the conference. year course for reflection about the Academy Fellow Osuan also realized a shift in personal perspective Program concludes the coursework. since she began her project last summer. Her interMany of the leadership courses are open to all stuviews with the homeless taught her to "walk in with an dents, although certain sections include only residents open heart" and to serve with no desire for gratitude. of the Leadership Living and Learning Center. "The mission to serve them first is something that has been awe-inspiring in my life, and has truly changed The Academy Fellow Program my perspective on what leadership is," she says. Candidates for the Fellow Program also must take The City of Waco began to address chronic homeeight hours of course work as well as the intense serlessness after aJanuary 2001 report from the Departvice project, which provides students the opportunity to participate in community programs dealing with a ment of Housing and Urban Development identified variety of social issues for the good of the community. homelessness as a Significant problem for many cities For his project, Ben Collins interviewed Africanacross the United States, including Waco. According to a 2005 Baylor University study, about 600 people American women over age 70 to find out if they had in Waco are homeless, and about 90 of them are nutritional or dietary deficiencies. "I'm pre-med, and chronically homeless. I want to be in health care some day, so I focused on Working under the healthcare subcommittee of how I could get involved in that aspect in the comthe Waco Homelessness Initiative, Osuan interviewed munity," says Collins, a sophomore from Yukon, Okla. homeless people, sought advice from communities He worked with Dr. Sally Weaver at the Waco Family with permanent hOUSing facilities and called busiHealth Center, a public clinic for the poor and uninnesses and organizations to find a potential coordinasured. The evidence they compiled showed that the tor should Waco establish a homeless shelter. women got insufficient vitamin D. During his interviews, Collins became aware of Although she has completed more than the 50 the cultural gap between his own eating habits and required hours, Osuan says she wants to continue those of the women he interviewed. "We were going working with the Homelessness Initiative until the over nutrition history, and a lot of people that I housing project is complete. "I really want to see it all the way through," she says, "The homeless are the interviewed ate different foods than I did. I had to forgotten poor. There are those who need toys during be conscious about it and ask the right questions Christmas, or just need a can of food for now, but there and become knowledgeable of food and exercise and

are those who really don't have anything, and they don't have family to support them. We could be, as a faith-based community, in charge of that." Osuan's work has been recognized on a national level. She and another Fellow candidate, Austin senior Jenny Parker, were chosen to participate at a summit sponsored by Young People For - a group dedicated to cultivating leaders in social justice. Osuan, Collins, Parker and seven other

candidates are among the first Fellows in the young program , and the Academy uses an advisory board to give those students inspiration and direction. Its members include Calvary Baptist Church pastor Julie Pennington-Russell, U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, andJohn Hill, BA '04, a Harvard Law School student who was student government external vice president at Baylor. "We're there as sort of mentors for any students in the Academy, to provide general direction and provide more personal interactions through seminars, small groups," Hill says. Board members gather at Homecoming for a report, and they may meet with students throughout the year, presenting lectures and providing feedback.

Leadership Living and Learning Center

The Leadership Living and Learning Center (LLC) - located on the first floors of the Allen and Dawson residence halls - is similar to Baylor University's other living/ learning centers in that it fuses classroom discussion with extracurricu-

lar life to inspire dialogue and new ideas , Shushok says. Curtis hopes that the future Leadership LLC will incorporate all of the Allen and Dawson residence halls as the program expands. "Hopefully one day we'll be an endowed center with the funding to take all three floors of Allen-Dawson and make them the total Leadership Living Learning Center," she says. Students in the Fellow program are not required to live in the LLC, but residents can become peer mentors who facilitate discussion among groups. These groups plan their own civic engagement projects. LLC students must attend three leadership lectures each semester, and Fellow candidates must attend four lectures total. "We look at leadership in the church, leadership in social contemporary issues, leadership in private enterprise and leadership in public life," Curtis says. "We bring speakers to expand on what that looks like in their own profession." Students write a paper reflecting on what they did. Likewise, Fellow candidates must write a paper about their civic engagement project. "We have them reflect upon the impact: 'What are you learning? How is this changing you?'" Curtis says. "That's where the true learning comes, when you start learning what your purpose is and going deeper into it." Curtis says that the Academy does not focus on anyone profession , preferring instead to teach leadership skills suited to all professions. "Because our program is open to all disciplines, we'll see students going into various professions. Whether they're a doctor or a lawyer or a teacher, they'll have a desire to serve as leaders, to be inclusive, to be empowering, to be ethical. We look at the heart of leadership." @

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