College students as catalysts for social change: a case study

Ownership

Because it’s the group’s group you know. Like it’s not about one person at the top pointing down and saying ‘This is what we are doing.’ It’s about a bunch of people saying; ‘Hey this is the organization I want to be part of! This is what I think an organization would look like that gives us something to be excited about; this is how we can get there!’

Spears (2004) states: “Servant-leadership emphasizes increased service to others, a holistic approach to work, promoting a sense of community and the sharing of power in decision making” (p. 9). This sharing of power or making it the “group’s group,” as Roy says, is important within SLP. The group promotes ownership at this level by having the members shape the purpose and goals. Thus there is attention paid to the whole system and the leadership from the various campus chapters.

An example of how this ownership is carried out is in the following example from the summer retreat observation. The students spent several hours coming up with the “word of the year” which was “believe”. The students all had the opportunity to give input. Mackenzie commented that it was, “An hour and a half battle on Saturday night to come up with this word.” The next day the founders did a values clarification exercise where they had lists of words and the students in small groups did a forced choice selection to come up with a word that represented SLP. The exercise moved at a rapid pace. Mackenzie processed this experience and contrasted it with the exercise the previous night. The following comments were made about the two exercises by the various students: “Last night it was painful but we were more invested.” Mackenzie asked “How did people feel about the round table manner vs. values clarification?” One young man commented: “I felt like I was at a student government meeting where opinions are suppressed.” Another young man commented, “It was expedient.” Mackenzie goes on to ask: “What does this tell you, mirror or reflect what SLP is versus other organizations?” A young woman states, “Last night everyone had a reason-SLP leadership vs. others, SLP doesn’t have a hierarchy in leadership. Another student says, “In other organizations someone picks the word, a random word rather than listening to others.” Another woman says, “This exercise is what society wants to say is how you do it, but not what SLP is about.” Mackenzie summarizes, “Do people really understand SLP culture and style? If it is just a bus trip, just a service project but the pain of discussing it is all the way thru. It is so much more than just the tangible cities. It is more important than just the bus trip. The core model is why SLP has survived.” Pete chimes in, “Last night there was no facilitator-Mackenzie just stood up there. No Executive Director to tell you- you have to come to a conclusion for what is best for the organization. When people are passionate they are going to say what they think is best, when you put passion together, it takes more time but when it shakes out it is the best. This is symbolic of what SLP is about.” The core model is about ownership, even though it takes time.

I saw repeated examples of the SLP founders empowering the core members and the core members modeling that with other students. This empowerment came through the founders giving away their leadership and providing opportunities. Some examples were shared earlier such as students being able to run SLP meetings right away if they desire, or empowering Tyrane in raising donations. Other examples include ways that students are empowered on each of the MAD tours. At each service site as a token of appreciation, a trip t-shirt is given to a contact at that location. Rather than the bus core leaders presenting the shirt it is a student participant that is asked to fulfill this role. On a trip that I was on, the mayor came to thank the students and the newspaper showed up to take a picture. The bus core encouraged a participant from the bus to be the one in the picture rather than them. The role of talking to the news media that might show up to write an article for the local newspaper is also given to the participants. Pete shares the philosophy here:

We really try to get students…in the community. We try to get students like standing up and speaking getting it done, you know, because it is experiential learning, you know; people learn it, by doing it, by showing it, by experiencing it, and trying things.

Another example of empowerment happens at the end of each MAD tour in the “Celebration City.” All of the buses gather at one location and have a celebration which includes a slide show featuring pictures from each of the various routes. In addition, people from each bus have a chance to share their theme and some highlights of their trip. The bus core chooses several participants to share about the experiences for the bus. So rather than the bus core leaders who have spent countless months in preparation doing the presentation, they empower someone else and give away the opportunity. George and McLean (2007) in looking at a study of 125 authentic leaders known for their success and effectiveness share:

As a consequence of their experiences, they realized that leadership is not about getting others to follow them. Rather, they gained the awareness that the essence of their leadership is aligning their teammates around a shared vision and values and empowering them to step up and lead.

The importance is sharing the vision, empowerment and providing opportunities. In speaking of how this empowerment translates to the SLP camp model Pete explains. “It is a very crew-driven camp so we get there and it is students coming up with ideas and putting together the program.” SLP allows for relevance out of context, not controlling the leadership. So they train for basic skills but allow the students to be empowered to make decisions and shape the experience. This happens on the trips, within the campus chapters, at camp and at the various retreats. Roy talks about the empowerment that comes when students realize their own personal value and how they can make a difference. “I think it’s that sense of ‘we can do something,’ like ‘I am of value. I can contribute and the world needs my help.’ I mean there are not only problems in other communities, there is one at home.”

SLP has also been very supportive of empowering others to achieve their dreams and creating opportunities to do so. A video called Everything Intangible was produced by students who had an interest in developing a video and were encouraged to do so using MAD as their subject. A young man met Roy at a leadership camp when he was in high school, and at that time set a goal of leading a camp himself in five years. Roy knew of his goal and this year the student will be co-directing the summer SLP camp. Some of these could be considered self-serving but those involved whom I spoke to were very excited and did not mention that.

Another student, Lucas, had such a life changing experience on a MAD tour that he made a difference in his own home community of Dearborn and nearby Detroit, Michigan, by coordinating a high school MAD tour. He explained the composition of the students on the trip being African-American, Arab-American, Caucasian, and Yemini.

So you really, really have a clash of cultures and it is just going to be real interesting to get all these kids on a bus together. Nervous as hell the first day I’m sure, because they do not have this, although they live a mile away from each other, they do not have interaction.

I share from a newspaper article written after the trip, organized by Lucas, about the impact on the participants. The reporter wrote:

I witnessed these young Americans put aside their fears, prejudices and preconceptions to help those who were more in need. This uncovered similarities and created friendship and unbreakable bonds between two disparate groups. I can only imagine what will happen when they realize they are capable of anything. The…kids had been text-messaging one another ever since they got back from their trip. They recently did a service project together and went to the mall to socialize and hang out. (Clemmons, 2008)

Levine and Curetan (1998) research says: “Today’s undergraduates think of themselves in terms of their differences rather than their commonalities” (p. 79). There is mitosis of student groups, becoming more specialized all of the time with two fascinating exceptions to the segregations; athletes and theatre people. These two groups on college campuses were able to overlook racial barriers (p.79). SLP brings all people together, regardless of race, religious or sexual preference, as one of their goals. Perhaps in the future along with athletics and theatre, SLP will be noted for breaking down barriers. To do this effectively however, SLP will need to be intentional about training the core leaders on diversity issues. At this point in time SLP is fairly homogenous in its composition and if the group continues to involve students of color it will need to be aware of different issues that might arise and gifts that are brought to the group that are not currently present.