Through its academic mission, community programs,
and leadership-related research, the Leadership Development Office is
dedicated to implementing the Claflin Imperative: preparing students
for leadership and service in a multicultural, global, and technological
society.
Leading, Achieving & Serving
Leadership development has always been an essential
part of Claflin's mission. Claflin graduates include such prominent
leaders as the first African-American Chief Justice of the South Carolina
Supreme Court, three bishops of the United Methodist Church, and the
University's current president, Dr. Henry N. Tisdale. Indeed, since
its founding more than 135 years ago, Claflin has produced service-oriented
citizen-leaders in dozens of professions, including law, medicine, education,
social work, and the arts.
Claflin's Leadership Development Office was created
to coordinate the University's various leadership programs. Claflin
is an Institutional member of the International Leadership Association
(ILA). The Office operates in three major domains: academic, community
service, and research.
Academics:
As part of its Leadership Development Program, the Office offers an
18-credit minor in Leadership Studies. Students are assisted with undergraduate
research internship, UNCF and other scholarships.
Community service:
The Office sponsors and coordinates student and community programs and
activities designed to enhance leadership and service awareness, skills,
and experiences.
Emerging Leaders:
The Office assists in the planning and conducting of the annual Emerging
Leaders Workshop, a three-day intensive engagement of students and faculty
representatives from Historically Black Colleges and Universities in
discussions and experiential learning about successful entry into graduate
and professional schools and into corporate America.
Research:
The Center encourages faculty members and students to identify and pursue
research topics that contribute to a better understanding of contemporary
leadership, particularly among African Americans.
The Leadership Alliance:
Claflin is a founding member of the Leadership Alliance, an academic
consortium of 31 institutions of higher learning, including nationally br recognized research universities (Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Princeton
and Cornell among others) and leading historically black colleges and
universities (HBCUs). Alliance members are committed to reversing the
under representation of African Americans and other minority students
in the ranks of the nation's academic and research professionals.
Claflin's membership in the Leadership Alliance provides students at
the University with numerous internship and professional opportunities.
