The Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics has announced a new program to encourage student participation in the center’s activities. The new Winston Center Ambassador program will begin in the fall semester, and will give interested students the opportunity to work closely with the program’s administrators in planning and publicizing the center’s events.
“We are looking for students who are interested in promoting and advancing the mission of the Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics,” said Brooks Barhydt, assistant director of the center, in an e-mail. “The students who are selected to serve in this important volunteer role will work in collaboration with [the] assistant director of the Winston Center to publicize key events to the campus community.”
“In addition to working to help publicize important Winston Center events throughout the year, students will have the opportunity to help brainstorm what notable leaders to bring to campus, and will be able to meet and spend time with those individuals.”
The Winston Center will look specifically for students who have attended previous events put on by the center, and hopes to recruit 10 to 20 ambassadors for one-year commitments or more.
“I think it goes without saying that we will be giving preference to those who have attended past Winston Center events and have a passion for the core components of the Center-Leadership and Ethics,” Barhydt said.
In terms of potential effects, Barhydt said he hopes that involving more students will allow the center to gain more student input when planning events and give students the chance to interact on a personal level with the center’s speakers. The ambassador program also hopes to bring the Winston Center’s events to students from all of BC’s schools, not just the Carroll School of Management.
“Student input is always welcomed, and we want to ensure that students have the opportunity to connect with world-class speakers on a more personal level,” Barhydt said. “I believe that too often in the past, members of the campus community have attributed the Winston Center to only benefitting members of the Carroll School.”
Although the ambassador program will not officially begin until the fall, the Winston Center is opening applications ahead of time to interested students. The program will also be marketed throughout the coming months and at Student Activities Day during the fall. The new program is just one step in continuing to improve the way the center operates, Barhydt said.
“I trust that the Ambassador Program will help to spread the message of the Winston Center throughout campus and draw increased interest from students and faculty in many different areas of the school,” Barhydt said. “The ability to gain thoughtful feedback from the student base will allow the Winston Center to further our programmatic offerings to topics that are timely and extremely important on campus, whether this is through outside speakers or thoughtful collaborations with key members of the campus community.”
Although the center has worked with numerous students in the past, the new program hopes to emphasize the center’s commitment to students in the BC community.
“We’ve been fortunate in the past to work with a number of amazing students in an informal basis, but by creating this program, I believe we will take a critical step toward reinforcing important lines of communication, key partnerships, and ultimately continue to work diligently on our great offerings to students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of Boston College,” Barhydt said.
