Leadership Center Community Outreach

The Wilson Center has launched several programs that reach into the larger community of southside Virginia. The primary effort has been to provide support to the Leadership Farmville program, established in 1996 by the local Chamber of Commerce to provide adult leadership education.

 

The Wilson Center has been actively involved in numerous civic education outreach initiatives since its founding in the mid-1990s.  Over one thousand high school teachers and high school students have attended weekend workshops and summer institutes that have featured faculty associated with the Wilson Center.  The Wilson Center's civic education partners have included the federally-funded Center for Civic Education, the Constitution Center at Montpelier (James Madison's plantation home in Orange County, VA), the Bill of Rights Institute, Northern Virginia Community College, the Gunston Hall Foundation, and the Virginia Department of Education.  Dr. David Marion, Director of Academic Programs at the Wilson Center, organized a weekend program at Montpelier in March that was devoted to the U.S. Bill of Rights.  Professors Roger Barrus and James Pontuso also participated in the weekend program.  Dr. Marion returned to Montpelier in June for two week-long NEH seminars on James Madison's Constitutional Republic.  Eighty teachers from New Jersey to Hawaii attended the June seminars.  Dr. Marion was back on the road in July for a Constitution Academy in Washington for forty high school students from across the United States.   Looking ahead, Dr. Marion will return to Montpelier for a two-day workshop for teachers from Fairfax County Virginia in November and a weekend seminar in March for teachers from the Middle Atlantic states.  In addition to these programs for high school teachers and students, Dr. Marion has assisted the Bill of Rights Institute with the preparation of instructional materials for high school teachers on American constitutional history, and the Wilson Center has been actively involved in assisting the Farmville Area Chamber of Commerce with Leadership Farmville, an adult leadership program that now has two hundred alumni.   These civic education initiatives, representing a small but important part of the Wilson Center's annual programming, dovetail perfectly with the historical origins and educational mission of Hampden-Sydney College. 

Dr. David Marion at the Supreme Court

Dr. Marion at Constitution Academy

 

Leadership Farmville offers seven monthly seminars, every other year, for selected community members from such areas as education, government, and business. Participants focus on issues related to economic development, education, and local government institutions. Through its involvement, the College aims to give aspiring community leaders the skills needed to guide this area successfully into the 21st century.

 

 

Leadership Farmville Trip to the General Assembly 2011

Community Outreach is also collaborating with the staff at Montpelier, James Madison's plantation home, to conduct a series of training workshops for high school teachers on the Constitution and the American Founding.

Dr. Marion and Lt. Gen. Wilson are frequent guests for radio interviews and programs, and both speak regularly to a wide variety of community groups on a number of topics. Dr. Marion participates actively in judging the "We the People" program for high school students, and he and occasionally other H-SC professors consult with high school claesses to help prepare teams for competitions.
Of course, whenever a Central Virginia Public Affairs Forum event is held, the Wilson Center promotes this to the entire community in various ways, including advance radio spots, newspaper articles, posters and announcements on public television.

 

(left) Dr. Marion is interviewed for a public radio program; (right) A large crowd of community
members and students fill Kirby Field House for a debate of VA Senate candidates.

Periodically the Wilson Center singles out individuals who have assisted the Wilson Center and/or the community at large in a way that warrants praise and recognition. The James Madison Award is presented to these individuals, who may or may not be alumni, whose contributions have made a significant impact in the field of public service.