H-SC | Wilson Center for Leadership in the Public Interest

Monday, December 01, 2008

The Wilson Center for Leadership in the Public Interest offers an array of public service and civic education programs for students, faculty, staff and the community. The Center was launched in 1997 and renamed in 2000 to honor Lt. General Samuel Vaughan Wilson at the time of his retirement as President of Hampden-Sydney College.

One Center program, the Public Service Certificate Program, prepares some of Hampden-Sydney's best students for careers in public service through selected coursework, leadership seminars, research projects, and internships. Interns are placed with federal, state, local, and foreign government or private not-for-profit agencies, such as the White House, the European Parliament, and the American Embassy in Brazil.

Another Center program, The Central Virginia Public Affairs Forum, brings debates, symposia, and speakers of timeliness and relevance to Hampden-Sydney College as well as the larger community, including nearby Longwood University

The Center invites alumni with careers in Public Service to campus for panels, class lectures, and seminars to share their expertise with current students.

A variety of Youth Programs are made available to area high school students through the Center.

EDUCATION FOR A COMPETENT DEMOCRACY

Founders of the American Republic such as James Madison understood that a democratic government of high quality requires more than the construction of a good system of political institutions. The success of the American "experiment" also depends on the qualities possessed by the members of the citizen body, most especially by those selected to fill government positions; hence the attention given by Washington, Madison, and Jefferson to cultivating such qualities as industriousness, moderation, and self-discipline in the people.

At its own founding in 1776, Hampden-Sydney College embraced as its mission the task of producing "good men and good citizens." More than two hundred years later, the College has remained committed to enriching the personal and civic lives of its students and, indeed, of all people with whom it comes into contact. It is for this reason that the College, through the vision and inspiration of then-president Samuel V. Wilson, established the Wilson Center for Leadership in the Public Interest.