Two New Living-Learning Communities Focus on Leadership Studies

This year 20 freshman men and 17 freshman women are participating in two new living-learning programs that tie college residential life to the Jepson curriculum in an attempt to engage students in community outreach and activism. Jepson professors Thomas Shields and Crystal Hoyt are coordinating "Spinning Your Web," the program based in Dennis Hall, and "Ready for Moore," the program based in Moore Hall, respectively.  

Shields and Hoyt plan special leadership activities outside of class for the students in the two programs. In addition, 24 of the 37 students in the programs are enrolled in the same section of "Foundations of Leadership Studies" taught by Shields. The remaining 13 students are enrolled in other sections of the course.  

"The idea behind the class and the living-learning program in general is to get the students involved in the Richmond community," Shields said. "They have to apply to the program, so overall they are a motivated, smart group. I've been impressed with the level of discourse in the classroom." 

A few weeks ago students in Shields' class took part in a poverty simulation, an interactive role-playing exercise designed to make students reflect on the challenges facing those who live at or below the poverty line. Next week his students will take a guided bus tour of Richmond in which they will meet several city councilmen and a city developer and learn about 10 city neighborhoods.  

Students will also watch a documentary on Douglas Wilder, Richmond's mayor and the former governor of Virginia as well as the nation's first African-American governor. Shields hopes he can book Wilder to speak to the students following the documentary screening, he said. 

In addition to these and other experiential-education activities required of the living-learning students enrolled in Shields' class, students are also encouraged to participate in cocurricular activities. For example, the "Ready for Moore" students developed an esprit de corps early in the semester when they helped each other through a challenging ropes course, Hoyt said.   

Hoyt has planned several other "Ready for Moore" events, including an upcoming talk by Jepson professor Thad Williamson on the leadership of civil rights activist Ella Baker. Later in the year, Hoyt will lead students in a discussion of the role gender plays in leadership, a topic she has researched in some depth. 

Both Shields and Hoyt feel encouraged by the positive feedback they've received thus far from students in "Spinning Your Web" and "Ready for Moore." Shields and Hoyt plan to work with these living-learning communities again next year, they said.  

"These programs make students feel a part of something," Shields said. "The students have demanded a lot from the programs and are very engaged."