Local high school students fostered strong leadership skills at Elizabethtown College’s second annual Social and Civic Leadership Academy, held on campus July 16-21.

The overnight program was provided at no cost for all participants and was developed for high school student leaders with historically marginalized identities. Students had the opportunity to participate in workshops and activities led by Etown faculty and staff, as well as leaders within the local community. Programming focused on advocacy, social justice, and leadership. Participants were also connected with resources to help them explore pursuing a college education.

“Exposure to college at a young age, particularly for first-generation college students, creates access to possibilities some may not have considered,” Senior Advisor for College Diversity, Equity and Belonging, Dr. Kesha Morant-Williams said. “It tells them that they belong in college, or whatever post-secondary environment they may choose.”

Morant-Williams and Director of the Center for Community and Civic Engagement Javita Thompson led a session during the academy, speaking to students about identity and finding their group of people, referred to as a tribe.

“Students with strong and meaningful interpersonal relationships do better in high school and college,” Morant-Williams said. “We wanted to deliver a message that challenged students to start thinking about this now.”

Emely Guevara ’25 leads this year’s Social and Civic Leadership Academy

The Social Justice and Civic Leadership Academy was established by Jalen Belgrave ’23 in 2022, as part of his Humanity in Action Fellowship, to help break down barriers for students with diverse, underrepresented backgrounds. The recent Legal Studies graduate served as director for last year’s inaugural academy.

Emely Guevara ’25 took over as director for this year’s academy which grew from eight to 14 participants. The International Business major planned the programming and guided students through the creation of capstone projects.

“I came from a very unrepresented community where we didn’t have the opportunity to go to summer camps,” Guevara said. “Now I have the opportunity to give that access to other students that look like me and want to learn about college. This camp is meant to build young community leaders to go back in their communities and make an impact, teaching them to use their voices and reach out to others.”

For their capstone projects, students analyzed social issues in their hometowns and other cities and proposed solutions to issues using research, critical thinking and other information gained through the week. Campers were given (theoretical) $1 million to create a project for their local communities.

Students also learned how to conduct college research, heard testimonials from Etown Ubuntu Mentors, who are current student leaders of color enrolled at Etown, and took campus tours.

Each day had a specific theme: Monday was Law/Political Science Day, Tuesday was Economic Policy Day, Wednesday was Peacebuilding/Social Justice Day ad Thursday was Social Justice: Using Voice Outside of Government.

Session leaders included Judge Jodie Richardson, Magisterial District Judge in Lancaster, along with Etown faculty and staff facilitators including Dr. Alain Mortha, Director of Global Operations at the Office of International Business Development; Kayshen Morel, counselor at Etown; Dr. Shannon Haley-Mize, Director of the Center for Global Understanding and Peacebuilding; Dr. Najiba Benabess, Dean of the School of Business; Darcey Mills, Associate Director of Diversity, Equity and Belonging; Josh Cohen, Instruction and Outreach Librarian; and Eugene Thomas, Area Coordinator for Residence Life.

The academy is available at no cost to participants thanks in part to a grant from the Members 1st Charitable Foundation.