By Robert Eisele, Director of Communications

When Jewell alumni Fred and Shirley Pryor ’56 considered giving something back to the college that nurtured them, bricks and mortar did not immediately come to mind.

The couple who founded a successful Kansas-based international corporate training company favored a contribution that would provide an ongoing challenge to William Jewell students who would be facing the accelerating pace of change and the leadership challenges of a new millennium.

Thus the Pryor Leadership Studies Program was born. A pilot program was launched during the 1993- 94 school year, and was endowed by the Pryors in 1998. From a competitive pool of applicants, a select group of Jewell students is chosen each year to immerse themselves in a program built around experiential techniques that foster leadership development.

The Pryor Leadership Studies Program at William Jewell College is an academic certificate program employing an experiential learning model. The program teaches personal, vocational and civic leadership through academic study, experience, mentoring and critical reflection. During the two-year program, students are placed in environments that enable them to add to innate abilities the knowledge, skills, virtues and experiences that allow them to learn and practice leadership.

These “environments” include:

• a Cornerstone Course in which the students study self-leadership, situational leadership, servant leadership and shared leadership;
• an Outward Bound experience in the Florida Everglades which serves as a leadership laboratory;
• a Volunteer Internship that fosters civic volunteerism and civic leadership;
• a Vocational Internship through which students explore career options and network with leaders in their chosen fields;
• and a Capstone Course in which the students work together to address a community, thereby leaving a Leadership Legacy.

REFLECTIONS ON A DECADE OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

As the Pryor Leadership Studies Program prepares observe the 10th anniversary of its founding, cofounder Fred Pryor reflected recently on the program’s impact and the enduring lessons learned the Jewell students who have experienced it: “Students naturally love to learn new ideas that think will improve their lives. I see their excitement all the time. They say things like, ‘I thought I understood what leadership was about, but now I that you sometimes have to be a good follower a good leader.’ But I also know that sharing concepts or ideas is not enough; lessons are better learned students discover and try out these ideas in real “For example, the Outward Bound experience throws students into situations that aren’t theoretical. You’re in a canoe, you realize you won’t make your destination by that night, and now you have to find a place to sleep. A person who up until now was reluctant to take the lead has an idea on how to navigate to shore, and that person suddenly becomes the leader. Or, the students in the canoe who had been disagreeing on what course to take realize they have to settle on a common direction so that they don’t become stranded. These are different learning experiences than just espousing the ideals of personal responsibility or teamwork. It gives students a handson perspective. If you don’t give them a chance to see it, feel it, test it out in their lives, knowledge has been given out but not necessarily received.

“The experience, ultimately, is about the reality of change. Students see themselves as having changed, and equally important, as having gained the competence to manage change. The pace of change in modern life and work can be brutal sometimes. More than just acquiring facts or data, young people need educational experiences in which they can experiment with change and learn to reexamine their values in light of change.”

STUDENTS RISE TO CHALLENGE OF LEADERSHIP PROGRAM

Facing up to personal challenges and learning to recognize individual strengths and weaknesses are among the important life lessons learned by students participating in William Jewell College’s Pryor Leadership Studies Program. “I came back from Outward Bound with a new perspective on the way I want to live my life,” says Amber Blahut. “Throughout this experience I have seen in myself a strength I never knew I had. More importantly, I have discovered a drive to push myself and to challenge myself. I feel now that I see the world through different eyes. I have learned a lot about who I am and what is really important in life.” “Challenging” and “rewarding” were among the most frequently heard descriptions of the experience. “Participating in the Everglades Outward Bound trip was one of the most challenging and rewarding things I have ever done,” says Emily Stallman. “Not many people can say they’ve paddled 105 miles through Everglades National Park; slept in tents on top of boards on top of canoes on inlets of the Gulf of Mexico; seen dolphins, alligators, sharks and all kinds of birds in their natural habitat; or gone two weeks without showering.”

“The Outward Bound trip is a life-changing experience for many,” says Dr. Sylvia Nadler, director of the Pryor Leadership Studies Program at William Jewell. “The trip places students in unfamiliar and everchanging environments where decisions and actions have real consequences.”Through the Outward Bound experience, Dr. Nadler said that students learn much about leading and following: They learn to be risk-takers; they learn that failure isn’t final and that it can be turned into a powerful and positive learning experience; they learn that they can do far more than they ever imagined; they experience the value of both self-reliance and the power of teamwork; they consider the advantages of leading from behind as well as from the front; they learn that serving is an important part of leading; they learn the importance of fitness—physical, mental, social, emotional and spiritual; and they experience the benefits and joys of simplicity and the importance of being good stewards of resources. “The experiential learning model, employed so successfully in the Outward Bound program and throughout the Pryor curriculum, also requires students to reflect on their experiences and to articulate not only what they learned, but also how the lessons learned can be transferred to future experiences at William Jewell College and in life,” Dr. Nadler says. “The internships and the Leadership Legacy project also provide invaluable lessons. The internships and legacy projects require students to reflect on their experiences, connecting those experiences to lessons learned in the classroom and elsewhere and extending the learning into future applications.”

LEGACIES: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

The Leadership Legacy project is the capstone experience of the Pryor Program. Each Legacy project has had an impact on the Pryor Fellows, the Pryor Program and the community. Here is a look at some of the Leadership Legacy projects undertaken by Pryor Fellows over the past decade:

• The 2001capstone classes gave back to the community in unique ways. One capstone class wrote a book of insights on leadership for college students titled “True North.” The book contains anecdotes on leadership from leaders on campus and was sold in the WJC bookstore. The other capstone class raised $40,000 to build a Habitat for Humanity house in Liberty. The homebuilding project took place in the fall of 2001, and many William Jewell students and faculty participated.
• The 2000 Pryor Fellows capstone class wanted to create a legacy project that would allow all Jewell students the chance to experience a portion of the Outward Bound trip. They made plans and raised $375,000 for the creation and operation of the Tucker Leadership Lab, a teambuilding and challenge course on campus.

AN ENDURING LEGACY OF LEADERSHIP

Over the past 10 years, the Pryor Leadership Studies Program has extended its reach through Leadership Legacy Projects, Internship Programs and a Service-Leadership Experience. Here are some statistics that communicate the impact made by program participants:

• Pryor Fellows have donated 11,235 hours to civic and nonprofit organizations across the nation and around the world through volunteer internships.
• Vocational internship participants in the program have spent 34,262 hours exploring career interests.
• Since 1993-94, when 20 Pryor Fellows ventured to Costa Rica for the first Service Leadership Experience, 228 additional Pryor Fellows have done service-leadership as part of the Outward Bound experience in the Florida Everglades.

PRYOR PROGRAM EXTENDS REACH In 2001, the Department of Nursing and the Pryor Leadership Studies Program began a pilot leadership program for nurses. The curricular components of the Pryor Leadership Studies Program for Nurses closely parallel the Pryor Leadership Studies Program requirements. In the fall of 2001, the program was elective and nine nursing students participated. In the fall of 2002, the nursing department made the program a requirement for all nursing students.

The reach of the Pryor Leadership Studies Program also extends to the American Humanics Program and the interdisciplinary minor in non-profit leadership. William Jewell began offering minors in the fall of 2002, and one of the first to be approved was an interdisciplinary minor in nonprofit leadership. The minor supports an external nonprofit leadership certificate program offered by American Humanics (AH), a Kansas-City based national organization that is a strategic alliance of colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations and collaborating professional organizations all concerned about the need for better- prepared entry-level employees in youth and human services.

The AH start-up at Jewell was partially underwritten by a grant from the Kauffman Foundation, secured in collaboration with UMKC. Each year, AH students attend the national American Humanics Management Institute. This year, the William Jewell AHSA, in only its second year of existence, was awarded the 2003 Outstanding AHSA Momentum Award. This award, accompanied by a $1,000 stipend, is given annually to the AHSA demonstrating the most significant accomplishments in recruitment, leadership and community involvement. The runners up were the University of South Carolina and Notre Dame.

THE TUCKER LEADERSHIP LAB

The Tucker Leadership Lab is a multi-dimensional leadership and team development facility made possible by a Leadership Legacy project initiated by Pryor Fellows from the class of 2000. The lab honors the memory of Jewell alumnus Paul Tucker, a member of the class of 1942, whose family made a major gift for construction of the facility. The lab uses an experiential learning model for educating and training participants in the essential skills to be effective team players and leaders.

The lab’s state-of-the-art challenge course allows participants to experience both low and high course options. In addition, the lab utilizes the Mabee Center for indoor low challenge course training and has just recently developed Interactive Workshops that combine the classroom environment with the fun of experiential learning.

Since its dedication in February of 2001, the Tucker Leadership Lab has welcomed over 6,200 participants. In addition to Jewell students, visitors to the lab have included corporate groups, high school students, leadership conferences, college students, teachers, athletes, nonprofits, scouts, church youth groups, military recruits, church leadership teams and more. If you would like more information about the Tucker Leadership Lab, visit the website at www.tuckerleadership.org, or call Tucker Leadership Lab coordinator Todd Long at 816- 415-5909.

For more information about the Pryor Leadership Studies Program, contact Dr. Sylvia Nadler at 816- 781-7700, ext. 5492. For information on American Humanics, contact Kevin Shaffstall at ext. 5457.