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CAMPUS

Corps growth gained from Leadership Challenge Weekend

By Jeff Laurendeau
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

Several years ago, Norwich started a program for collegebound, high school students to participate in a Leadership Challenge Weekend. Leadership Challenge Weekends have been occurring on campus since the 1996-97 school year. The weekends are meant to be a recruiting tool, but also to teach leadership skills to students.

Skip Davison, director of corps recruitment, said the reason for these weekends “is recruiting, at the same time it is informational to the students. It is an opportunity to talk to them about leadership.”

When Leadership Challenge Weekends (LCW) first started, there was only one per year. Since then, “It has had such a major impact on recruiting and attracting young people to the university, there are now four a year,” Davison said.

“I thought about coming to Norwich, and taking place in the military lifestyle for a couple days would help make my decision,” said Nick Arduini, 18, an information assurance major from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

According to Davison, “Bringing students to campus in any form will often convince them to make the leap to say ‘yes, Norwich is the place I want to go’.”

“The corps is the most difficult group to recruit for. Not many people understand what we do as a senior military college,” Davison said.

LCW is conducted by recruits and cadets, who serve as team leaders and are involved with the leadership exercises.

Some of the staff members were also LCW participants in high school.

Mike Kelley, 20, a criminal justice major from Bourne, Mass., was a participant and then decided to help out as a Norwich freshman.

“I wanted the opportunity to be part of it, again, to help the admissions staff out and maybe get some kids to come to Norwich,” Kelley said.

Leadership Challenge Weekends begin Friday evening and ends on Sunday afternoon.

The participants split time between hands-on activities and classroom discussions on leadership involving communication and teamwork, according to the LCW pamphlet from the NU admissions office.

Friday evening is an introduction night, getting to know people in the team each participant is assigned and learning the basic steps to effective communication.

The physical aspects of LCW begin Saturday morning with a physical training (PT) session conducted by enlisted members of the Marine Corps.

After PT, the leadership reaction course takes place.

The leadership reaction course is a series of events and obstacles meant for teams to work together and develop communication skills. These activities could be simple, such as having to walk blindfolded in a simulated mine field of aluminum cans, with the only directions of where to step coming from your team.

“It’s cool, because it brings out your leadership, and for some people it brings out leadership they never knew they had,” said Mark Zinderman, 20, a criminal justice major from Kingston, N.Y.

On Saturday evening, the participants prepare for the climbing wall and water survival course. “If you’re not cadre, you get the opportunity to lead, which freshmen don’t get to do until second semester,” Zinderman said.

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