OSU students learn leadership principles in prestigious Cambridge summer program

Thursday, August 14, 2008

For the 8th straight year, top Oklahoma State University students traveled to the United Kingdom with OSU’s Office of Scholar Development for a special summer course in leadership at Cambridge University. The course, designed and taught by Steve Harrist of OSU’s College of Education, gave students a better understanding of British leadership principles by immersing them in the culture that has produced many influential political figures.  

According to Asher Griffin, an accounting senior from Edmond, by presenting such individuals as Winston Churchill, William Wilberforce, and others, the course allowed him to see how great leadership transcends cultural boundaries.

“I loved the course. It was challenging, but not only the content; it was eye opening to see another worldview, that mine’s not the only one,” said Griffin.

“This course simply refines how I understand my own culture of OSU – where people from all areas of the university are learning about how we can impact the larger world.”

Harrist said he designed the course to let the students take advantage of Cambridge by studying the leaders that came from there, a quality he says makes traveling abroad unique.

“By going abroad and studying about another culture, you get an extra layer of meaning,” said Harrist. “I think when you get to study where those leaders lived and worked it adds meaning to things that are abstract.

The students were housed at Magdalene College and enjoyed special lectures and tours that illustrated the concepts taking place in class, such as the Churchill Archives at Churchill College, a visit to the Churchill War Rooms and Museum in London, an examination of original documents from the Wilberforce Collection at St. Johns College, and a presentation on Oliver Cromwell by noted Cambridge historian John Morrill.

The students were joined this year by several OSU graduates, friends, and staff members for other outings and presentations; plus an extensive tour of Cambridge and the surrounding area conducted by A&S Dean Peter Sherwood, who is a graduate of Magdalene College and a former Cambridge faculty member. This group also attended a reception at Sidney Sussex College hosted by OSU friend and Cambridge faculty member Claire Preston, who had made a presentation to the students on differences between U.S. and British educational systems. A panel of OSU experts conducted a seminar on leadership in various fields, with former OSU Truman Scholar and SGA President Bryan Begley, 2007 OSU Truman Scholar Matt Stiner, and current Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department Head Larry Hoberock doing the honors.  

“As always, it was very informative and exciting for OSU students and alumni, thanks to our students, faculty, and great alumni who support our efforts,” said Dr. Robert Graalman, director of OSU’s Office of Scholar Development. “We look forward to more of the same in future years.”

Next year, Graalman says the office plans a return to Cambridge, with a possible stop in Oxford for a re-run of the first of these courses, which was taught then and will be again by OSU Rhodes Scholar and new OSU faculty member, Blaine Greteman.

“For many years, students who complete this program have become some of OSU’s most accomplished students and graduates, and we think we can keep building on that record for a long time to come. We are attempting to endow this course, and prospects look good,” said Graalman.

Kelsey Jackson Williams, a current Oxford Clarendon Scholar, and Shonda Stevens, an OSU graduate who currently resides in the U.K. assisted the class. Students were partially funded by several private donors and by the OSU Lew Wentz Foundation.