Newsroom Archive for 6/, 2010

College Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 1—Saturday, May 29, 2010
Day 2–Sunday, May 30, 2010
Reported by: Hassan Abdelhalim, Mary Washington College

"Have any of you guys ever been to a dairy farm or a prison?" exclaimed Bob Gibson, Sorensen Executive Director, during the first orientation session of the 2010 Sorensen Institute's College Leaders Program. It was at that moment that I realized this was going to be a unique experience. It took me 20 minutes to drive the 10 miles down 29 North to the Grounds at UVa. I was excited to be immersed in a program based on ideals I was striving to improve and discover within myself. The College Leaders Program was in the all too familiar setting of my hometown. I grew up in Charlottesville and went to high school right down the road at Albemarle High School. I'm proud of Bodo's, the Downtown Mall, The Daily Progress coverage of local sports, Monticello, and everything that in my opinion that makes Charlottesville the best place to live in Virginia. I arrived yesterday ready to explore UVa grounds and meet the 26 other college leaders assembled from across this state and ready to grow. I quickly realized that it only took the same 20-minute, 10-mile drive I've taken down 29 North to get leaps and bounds outside of my comfort zone.

After lunch we welcomed our first speaker, Jay Kessler. The pace was set–the Sorensen College Leaders Program had begun, and we weren't going to waste any time. Mr. Kessler, a native of Charlottesville, shared with us his experiences as an active fundraiser and successful businessman in the community. Mr. Kessler's message was simple and appropriate, "In my life I've realized that the individuals I trust the most are those willing to admit they don't know it all. Even if they are 90% sure of whatever the area of expertise might be, that final 10% is where the potential for sustainable dialogue is realized." We spent that afternoon defining civic engagement and community service and how the two can foster a culture of civility, trust, and pillars of leadership taught through Sorensen.  That will help us to become thoughtful, informed, and active citizens in the Commonwealth. 

After a night of moving beyond introductions, the group began to bond. I met other college leaders from schools all over Virginia–from Liberty, to George Mason, to UVa at Wise. We had only just gotten to break the surface and develop relationships before we all turned in for the night. We had an 8 a.m. wakeup for a full day of teambuilding at the ropes course. I proposed a toast to the uncertainty of what lay ahead, hoping for one thing, "May our best todays be our worst tomorrows!" and we all went to bed. 

The next day was full of ups and downs, highs and lows, and everything in between. People pushed their boundaries by swinging from 40-foot heights and solving complicated team puzzles on both high and low ropes courses. For me the day culminated in a high ropes course with teammate Chelsea. We reached the top and Chelsea started to have second thoughts. I wouldn't let her quit, and we made it through. I learned about my level of patience and my ability to coach someone through an unfamiliar situation when I myself had never gone through such an experience. 

After the first two days of Sorensen, I find myself in a state of eager anticipation. I could not have envisioned the diversity of my fellow leaders, the dorm, or any of the experiences of the first two days here. Something special is beginning to build. Even though all 27 accomplished leaders, volunteers and citizens in my class are used to living above the status quo and do not know how this experience will play out, I can sense that we are all on course to discover something deep within ourselves about our passion for civic engagement. Frankly, the first two days have played out like a hyper-condensed version of the second half of the camp scene in Remember the Titans. Personalities have emerged, bonding occurred quickly, and a considerate approach to new viewpoints has flourished. The difference between our group and the Titan team however, is that we can already envision the possibilities at the finish line and beyond. We'll make it to the end accomplished and succeed together as we ride out this wildly fun journey. It's destined to be a legendary month.

This morning the CLP had its first day of class after a long, exciting day on the ropes course. We all gathered in the lobby to make the lengthy trek to Thornton Hall, and then promptly got lost in an attempt to locate Room D222. There were some issues with the room. We had been previously informed that we would not in fact be able to have coffee, etc. available to us during lecture. I braced myself for the lack of caffeine, but I did not anticipate that the air conditioning would be out of commission.

College Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 4—Tuesday, June 1
Reported by: Brittany Anderson, Virginia Tech

Today started out like any other except a little earlier. It was Picture Day, so we all needed to be in our finest attire. I know that before coming to Sorensen I must have looked at all the former CLP class photos a dozen times to see what people looked like, what they wore, and if I knew anyone, so I needed to make sure my picture was good.

The first half of the day was spent with Dr. Kidd in the Informed Citizen class. We finished our class lecture that was started the day before on familiarizing ourselves with Virginia and its different regions. Dr. Kidd discussed recent developments in the Virginia economy and key indicators of the economy in the Commonwealth. We learned that the state of the national economy largely determines what Virginia’s economy is like, unlike a larger state like California that can affect the national economy. Dr. Kidd indicated that he thought the public policy problem in Virginia lies in the tax structure and how it is dependent on a manufacturing economy. Since we are moving away from a manufacturing economy, our tax base doesn’t reflect it.

After lunch we had our first speaker, Barbara Kessler, from Career Services at the University of Virginia. Ms. Kessler reviewed resume tips with us and answered important questions about how to formulate our resumes to reflect our skills and qualities. Since a lot of the CLP participants are recent college graduates going out into the workforce after Sorensen, the workshop to work on our resumes was extremely helpful.

Our next speaker was Connie Jorgensen from UVa. Connie used to be a legislative aide in the Virginia General Assembly and came to share her experiences working in politics and talk to us about how a bill is passed. She went through the bill-making process from sponsorship to how to get it through committee. This speaker was very enlightening and inspiring because she shared personal stories about being a legislative aide and the bill-making process, and because she allowed us to see how complex the process is, yet broke it down into a step-by-step process.

Our last speaker of the day was Mary Loose Deviney. Mary Loose is a Sorensen alum who presented to us her culminating project from the Political Leaders Program. She demonstrated how to implement our ideas to enact real legislation and talked about how she was able to use real life experience with a curse and abuse case to make real change in policy. This showed our class how to research and execute change for an issue that is relevant in the Commonwealth.

Our speakers for the day provided us with very relevant information and advice for our future here at Sorensen and in the careers we hope to embark on. It was a great start to the program, and we finished the day out with a class photo and some delicious Moroccan food.

College Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 5—Wednesday, June 2
Reported by: Sarah Ulmer, University of Virginia

The day began for us almost with the rising sun. We woke up early this morning in order to meet in the lobby of Bice at 7 a.m. Luckily, everyone was on time for our first field trip!

Our field trip this week did not concentrate on a single city. The first stop of the day was at Cub Run Dairy Farm in the Valley. The dairy’s owner Gerald Heatwole toured us around his facilities. First, he explained to us how much work goes into making the food for the cows. Using his special, vitamin-rich blend, the cows at Cub Run are able to produce ten gallons of milk a day! Some of this milk is transported to local stores, while another percentage is exported to places such as Orlando, Florida. Mr. Heatwole showed us his various barns while telling us how agriculture is one of the most important economic resources for the state. He also clarified that while his dairy farm is not a certified organic farm, they use very little pesticides compared to the amount that would have been applied a decade ago. A most memorable part of the day was when we watched the veterinarian conduct a rectal exam to see if a cow was pregnant! Finally, Mr. Heatwole clarified the various federal and state programs established to help farmers pay for sustainable structures that will reduce the amount of runoff entering the Chesapeake Bay.

After our tour, we returned to the bus and drove to Staunton. Our first activity in Staunton was lunch at a restaurant right down the street from City Hall. From the restaurant we walked to City Hall where we would meet our two afternoon speakers.

The first speaker was David Ledbetter, an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for Waynesboro. Even more exciting, I was given the opportunity to meet and introduce Mr. Ledbetter! I think that I can speak for the class in saying that Mr. Ledbetter was a very engaging speaker. He spoke about how the current economic situation has affected the courts. For example, he explained that the General Assembly has decided not to appoint any vacant judge seats in order to reduce spending. Additionally, Mr. Ledbetter discussed the high proportion of repeat offenders and what it was like to be an attorney in a small town where he is likely to see people he meets in the court room when he is out about town.

Directly afterwards, Senator Emmett Hanger (R) from the 24th District gave our class insight into his extensive political experience, which extends beyond his fifteen years as a State Senator. He told us many interesting stories to help keep us awake in the hot City Hall room where the air conditioning would not work. One piece of legislation that he has recently pushed in the Senate involves creating an internet sales tax. He believes that people who purchase items online should have to pay the Virginia sales tax they would pay if they shopped in physical stores; otherwise, it is unfair to traditional retailers. Senator Hanger also works on a conservation easement initiative, which has protected 600,000 acres over the past 10 years.

After Senator Hanger’s insightful speech, we boarded the bus to head back to Charlottesville and dinner! And to complete the reading for tomorrow morning! 

College Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 6—Thursday, June 3
Reported by: Emily Bowles, University of Virginia

Our morning began at 8 a.m., many of us still tired from a late night of reading that included topics on the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the Virginia government. Class started promptly at 9 a.m., and we began to review the Constitution of Virginia. Debate sparked among my peers over whether or not the Constitution favored the elite, and whether steps should be taken towards limiting this power. We then moved onto the executive branch and discussed whether or not the Governor of Virginia holds too much power. Many believed that while the Governor does have an unusual amount of power, this is kept in balance by the fact that he cannot serve two consecutive terms.

After the discussions ended, we stopped and enjoyed a delicious Chik-fil-A lunch and worked in our policy groups. My group, public policy, continued to throw around broad ideas and issues that we believe affect our local communities the most.

As class continued, we had three speakers come to visit. The first two, Juan Wade and Leah Puryear, discussed the educational system in Charlottesville City. They have had many great successes within the community, including starting a pre-kindergarten program for 3- and 4-year-olds, bringing certified psychologists and guidance counselors into schools to help students, and providing land phones for all classrooms. They both agreed that while Charlottesville is a diverse community, all of its citizens are united in wanting to provide a great education for their children.

Our third speaker, Dave Mills, told us of his political career within the Democratic Party which started at the age of 23 when he ran for House of Delegates. Mr. Mills discussed what life as a campaign finance advisor was like and provided guidance on ways college students can get their foot in the political door such as working on local campaigns and getting involved in interest groups. Now that we are back at the dorm, we are all working in our policy groups to come up with ideas to present to the rest of our peers tomorrow.

College Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 7—Friday, June 4
Reported by: Dakota Thomas, the University of Virginia's College at Wise

The day began at a somewhat muggy 9 a.m. for us. It seems, though, that the AC in the building finally works, which means the problem has gone from being too hot in the building to being entirely too cold in the building, but we digress. The first thing we did was have class with Dr. Kidd, which we later continued after our speaker.

Class this morning went along with our readings regarding the General Assembly, the Executive Branch (namely the Governor), and the Judiciary. We discussed such ideas as institutional inertia; the tendency of a legislative institution dominated by one party to diverge from its intended purpose of representing everyone, become dominated by a few elites, and be unable to reverse itself; and the idea of institutional creep–in the same one-party-dominated system, the internal bureaucratic systems expand more than needed in order to make it look like everyone is actually doing some work for their constituents.

We went on to discuss the Republican reforms to the House of Delegates when they took over, from the streamlining of the committee and subcommittee systems to the practical elimination of the seniority system, all of which gave enormous powers to the Speaker. We then delved into the issue of African American members of the legislature, their inability to get anything done early on, and the formation of the Virginia Black Legislators Caucus. We then discussed how the Governor had become more important in recent times due to Federal responsibilities being shifted onto states, and we briefly covered the Judicial Branch.

Our speaker for the day was Andrew Lamar, Special Assistant for Policy Development to Governor McDonnell. What followed was an interesting, although somewhat sleepy-eyed, discussion of the state of the Republican Party in Virginia, and the usual round of intense questions from my classmates.

After dinner, the Youth Programs Coordinators took us all to Fridays After Five, a sort of local Charlottesville tradition, where they introduced us to a group of international students who were studying topics closely related to the ones we are studying. It was an absolute pleasure to meet them; they were all very funny, although it was hard to hear anything over the bands playing nearby. Later, some classmates and I went out for dinner where we discussed some tough topics in politics. And that was today in the CLP.