MY FELLOW Wahoos, lend me your ears, take out a pen and write down this date: Thursday, Feb. 1, 4 p.m. The location you'll want to visit is the Programs Office on the first floor of Newcomb Hall, room 149. There. You're now officially invited to the opening of the newest addition to the University, the Leadership Resource Center.
That's not a typo; the University now has an organization brimming with all the tools, ideas and "resources" to polish the leader in every one of us. Opening on Thursday, the Office of the Dean of Students, Newcomb Hall and the Parent's Program will present over $10,000 worth of books, videos and pamphlets geared at cultivating leadership qualities to the University.
The University is full of strong, capable and resourceful leaders. After all, student leadership is a bedrock principle the University was built on. A place with the information to refine these qualities shouldn't be disregarded. The Resource Center is where any student can go to better her skills, and more importantly, become an effective leader. We should each say thanks to our local leaders and University administrators; this is a great idea.
Dean of Students Penny Rue brought the idea to Charlottesville when she moved from Georgetown University, another school with a leadership resource center. Asst. Dean of Students Stephanie Goodell was given the task of organizing the Resource Center. Dean Goodell spent the past month visiting Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com with a blank check to stock the Resource Center with books and articles that deal with effective leadership. Not an easy task, but as you'll discover on Thursday, exceptionally well accomplished.
The Resource Center will be student staffed and will allow students to check out many of the more than 200 books that are available. A copier is available so that articles in the expensive reference books can be copied and shared with a group. The center also has a computer with links to Web sites specializing in various leadership topics, and couches and tables so that students may sit and read or even conduct personal meetings. Free copies of Student Leader Magazine will be available to every student for the first time - currently, only three organizations at the University own a subscription: Madison House, Student Council and Residence Life.
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The Resource Center promotes a main goal of this University by helping to create leaders in all different fields of study with different leadership qualities. We snicker and moan when the U.S. News and World Report collegiate rankings are published each year because we feel that the University never receives the credit it deserves. The Resource Center now gives the University an opportunity to do something about that.
Many universities already fund a resource center that is dedicated to teaching leadership to students. The University of Maryland, the University of Buffalo and the University of North Carolina are just a few that have such a resource. If we really want to become an institution that embraces student self-governance and sets an example for student leadership, we need to embrace the resources the University provides. Graduates as well as undergraduates can benefit from the tools in the Resource Center. Situations such as a Student Council debate, a Contracted Independent Organization election process, or even a Commerce School study group meeting, greatly would benefit from the advanced leadership ideas the Resource Center will provide. The Resource Center has articles and tips that the participants and leaders of any organization can use to accomplish more in a meeting.
To be a leader in an intense collegiate community like the University requires dedication, hard work and initiative. Aspiring and current student leaders should incorporate the Resource Center into their organizations. It has all the tools a student or even a Teaching Assistant would need to become effective in leading organized discussion.
Nothing will come of the Resource Center if the books collect dust and the couches remain empty. The University will be a poorer place if we pass up the opportunity to take the initiative and become true student leaders in our student led organizations.
I'll see you there on Thursday, 4 p.m. sharp.
(Luke Ryan's column appears Tuesdays in The Cavalier Daily.)
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