About the Program
Public Leadership & College Park Scholars: a Living & Learning Community
The Public Leadership Program
The College Park Scholars Public Leadership Program is one of twelve programs at the University of Maryland designed to provide 75 first- and 75 second-year undergraduates with an integrated living/learning experience. The unique focus of Public Leadership (PL) is the theory and practice of leadership and citizenship in civic and political spheres from the local to the global. Good public leaders - whether in or outside of government - in a democratic society display certain capacities and virtues, such as being able to articulate an ethical vision and facilitate broad-based citizen participation in matters of governance. Likewise, citizens are informed and able to reason critically about public matters. They are also able to deliberate with others, whose values they may not share, in order to solve common problems.
These skills and attitudes are best learned through a combination of inquiry, including encountering examples of good and bad leaders, and "learning by doing," including civic engagement. Hence, PL includes classroom instruction and dialogue as well as experiential learning in Prince George 's County middle schools and other venues. Students become aware of diverse approaches to leadership and citizenship in a multicultural society, critically assess and test out these ideals in practice, and acquire the commitments and traits required of democratic leaders and citizens in the 21 st century. For PL students, theory informs practice, and practice improves theory.
Program Commitments
• Members of the PL community can and should influence the direction, quality, and culture of the PL Program. Democracy begins at the home.
• Because working as a member of a team is crucial to both democratic leadership and citizenship, much of PL's work is done in small project teams.
• Because one of the democratic challenges is for people of diverse affiliations and commitments - whether these be matters of gender, ethnicity, religion, nationality, and ethical outlook - to be able to respect each other and resolve practical problems together, PL provides opportunities in multicultural democracy.
• Democratic leaders empower citizens to exercise their civic responsibilities and to become leaders themselves.
Program Goals
• Teach students about leadership and citizenship ideals that have evolved historically, such as in Athenian city state, the New England town meeting, 19th century political parties, and the progressive movement, and have been embodied in people such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and Roméo Dallaire.
• Challenge students to recognize the similarities, differences, tensions between local, regional, national, and global citizenship.
• Encourage students to assess critically the various ideals of leadership and citizenship and decide, through dialogue with others, which are most defensible and suited to their own evolving values and political contexts.
• Help students develop their own potential for democratic leadership and civic engagement in and through their participation in campus life and community service.
• Provide students with the resources and opportunities to enhance such skills as effective communication (written and verbal), critical thinking, persuasive argumentation, and democratic deliberation and decision-making.
College Park Scholars
College Park Scholars is a collaborative living-learning community at the University of Maryland with the following goals:
• To promote academic excellence, integrity, critical thinking, and creativity through the development of interdisciplinary knowledge, skills, and perspectives.
• To foster the development of a supportive and inclusive community of diverse students, faculty, and staff.
• To enhance the students' intellectual and personal development through service, experiential learning, and innovative curricular and co-curricular activities both on and off campus.
• To create an environment that enhances student development as life-long leaders, citizens, and scholars.
