CLP 2010: Day 16, Monday, June 14

College Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 16—Monday, June 14
Reported by: Chelsea Person, Virginia Commonwealth University

Today I woke up feeling a little groggy.  However, after deciding to wait for some of fellow CLPer’s and taking the “short cut” to class (which involved running up a hill), I felt quite invigorated and ready for the day.

We began with a talk from Dan Lavista from the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia. He explained the functions and goals of SHEV and explained how higher education is governed in Virginia. His talk sparked many great questions about funding for higher education and how the budget dollars are allocated. He gave us great insight into how universities and colleges work with the legislature to request funds.

Next the class became much more interactive as we provided each other constructive criticism on body language and staying within time constraints when dealing with the media. April Auger, the Director of Programs here at the Sorensen Institute, was a great last-minute facilitator of our “Media 101” session. She gave us the “Do’s and “Don’ts” when interacting with media. Such tips included “Do Prepare” and “Keep your Cool”. We continued to critique each other as April interviewed us on her “talk show”. This exercise gave us an opportunity to see how we perform under pressure and find ways to improve. The lesson of the day is "Use short and concise statements, stay on point, and don't go over the time allocated."

Lunch followed, and we each engaged ourselves in conversations concerning the progress of our culminating projects, as our literature reviews were due today. We have approached the halfway mark and our projects are coming along great. It's crazy to think we only have two weeks left!

The last part of day ended with Professor Bragaw’s session “The Thoughtful Citizen”. He engaged us in classical political philosophy as we discussed the writings from Aristotle, what it means to be a citizen, and how the definition of citizen is dependent upon the state in which one lives.  The quote, “Justice is rooted in empathy,” caught my attention because it implies that injustice is the teacher of justice, which is pretty deep once you let it sink in. We contemplated the fatal problem in all governments, which, according to Aristotle, is the difficulty in ensuring that rulers act justly.  He advocated education as the key to ensuring just leaders and just citizens. I feel Sorensen has taken on this challenge as they teach us how to lead.