"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hands On New Orleans

A group of 27 leadership scholars left Thursday, January 11, 2007 for New Orleans to assist in the city's ongoing recovery from Hurricane Katrina as a service project to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which was observed Monday, January 15.

Purpose: To unify, humble, and educate the 2007 Scholars through an intense service project, and to provide an opportunity to further develop our passion for servant leadership.

The participating students partnered with Hands on New Orleans, a well-established nonprofit organization that provides service opportunities, housing and food to volunteers, said scholars program coordinator Tracie Sanchez, who joined the trip, along with economics professor and scholars program director Chris Cornwell, Institute for Leadership Advancement director Dale Gauthreaux and ILA assistant director Jennifer Nash Littlefield.

"(Class of 2007 Leadership Scholars) Kelly Sandefer and Lauren Gottung both have family members in the region who were severely affected by Katrina," said Courtney Doran, a senior marketing and public relations major and Leadership Scholar who helped organize the New Orleans trip. "In response, nine of us joined together to form a planning committee. We conceived the trip as a service retreat, viewing it as an opportunity to both serve and reinforce our experiences in the Leadership Scholars Program."

Walking the Talk

The service projects varied throughout the three-day weekend, from removing mold in houses to be salvaged, gutting houses to painting schools, Doran said. After the work day was over, the group reconvened in the evenings for student-led discussions on themes they chose to emphasize.

"We have spent a great deal of time talking about ways the work and post-Katrina New Orleans can spark meaningful discussions and reflection," she said. "Our committee decided to promote themes of civic and personal responsibility, fear and vulnerability, and action and illumination."

"We are truly excited about the service retreat," Doran added. "After almost two years of studying leadership, developing our skills, and defining our personal goals, we are looking forward to 'walking the talk.' We hope the trip will communicate who we are as individuals and a class and what the Leadership Scholars Program is about." Experience it in the photo gallery here.

Do your part, be the change!

The greatest lesson that I took away from working with HONO was that while we can never cure all of the world's problems, we can definitely make one person's world a little brighter and more hopeful for a better future. After a day of hard work, I remember a conversation I had with a fellow scholar about how great it felt to finish demolding or gutting a house in a day (a whole house!), but the frustration and discouragement that set in once we walked outside and saw the hundreds of other houses that still needed help. Then, one of the HONO leaders who overheard us said, "Think about the homeowner of the house you just finished. It makes a big difference to her. You gave her a piece of her life back." I realized that big changes really start small, growing from within an individual and then overflowing into other people's lives. I was amazed and inspired by the hard work and dedication that each of the scholars put into the job at hand, and I think this is one valuable lesson that we can take back into the business world--change happens one person at a time, starting with you. Do your part, "Be the Change" (HONO Motto). -- Charlene Wang, Marketing