| Leadership Home |
| About the Program |
| Our Student Director |
| Requirements/Apply |
| Recommend a Student |
| Mission |
| Event Calendar |
| Newsletter |
| Syllabi |
| Photo Gallery |
| Contact Us |
|
New Student Director for the SPA Leadership Program
posted September 18, 2008
 David William Simnick (SPA/CAS ’10) has his work cut out for him. As the new Student Director for the SPA Leadership Program for this academic year, he will work alongside the new faculty Director, Professor Margaret Marr, to give the program new vision and direction. The School of Public Affairs Leadership Program is a four-year, 15-credit, course of study in leadership and social action. Changes have already begun, Simnick explained. During the summer months, the Program completely revamped the sophomore curriculum, added a retreat for second year students to help them shape their social action projects, expanded the number of events and opportunities for bonding and growth throughout the program, and created new steering committee positions to implement these initiatives. Working with his twelve-person Steering Committee and Professor Marr, in the first few weeks of the new term the Leadership Program has paired eager freshmen with upper division Leadership student to help the new students adjust to college life, has reached out to the Washington professional community to provide mentors to Sophomore Leadership students, has germinated fundraising projects, and has launched initiatives to strengthen relations with Program alumni. Dave said he applied for the position because he loves his fellow Leadership students and wants to serve them. He and Marr are united in their goal to ensure the Program continues to give its students the knowledge, skills and experience necessary to help them achieve their goals of social change. “I am always amazed to learn about the great things my fellow classmates are doing,” Simnick noted. “I’ve had to stop being so shocked after hearing about what they’ve accomplished.” For example, four Leadership students recently returned from attending the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. Dave exemplifies the high caliber of students attracted to the Leadership Program. This summer Simnick was nominated by AU to pursue the Truman Scholarship. An Eagle Scout from the Chicago area, Dave came to the Leadership Program with an already impressive list of leadership roles in high school including Youth Governor of Illinois, Illinois Boys State, Junior Statesmen of America, and the National Conference of YMCA Youth Governors. Now a junior majoring in Communications, Law, Economics and Government (CLEG), the inter-disciplinary major in Government, he is a member of several honors societies, including Pi Sigma Alpha, the national Political Science honor society, and makes regular appearances on the Dean’s List. Twenty year-old Simnick has already completed internships with US Senator Tomas Carper (D, DE), as well at the US Army in their Office of Public Affairs. During his tenure thus far at American he has led AU Students for Barack Obama, is a brother of Pi Kappa Alpha, was rated “best RA” in customer satisfaction surveys, and has been a consistent volunteer for FLY, Facilitating Leadership in Youth, tutoring students in after-school programs in Anacostia. He and fellow Program member, Jenna Sablan, have initiated a fundraising effort for FLY. In the Leadership Program, Dave’s first-year project group chose to work on immigration issues. When they learned the International Rescue Committee had just moved to Silver Spring, Dave’s group created a day-long fair to help the Committee build the community ties necessary to find placements for refugees. During his second year in the program, Dave led his class to create and fund a foundation to make grants to students in DC public schools to help them lead change in their schools. This semester, as part of the Leadership Program curriculum, Dave will intern in the Office of the Chancellor of DC Public Schools to continue his efforts to make quality education available to every young person. The SPA Leadership Program was founded in the early 1990’s under the initiative of then SPA Dean, now University President, Neal Kerwin. Simnick’s vision for the Program is to ensure that it remains one of the most prestigious programs of its kind in the nation. “With an inspiring new Director and a remarkable new class of freshmen, I think SPA and AU can expect to see great things from this Program in the upcoming years,” says Dave.
 back to news
|
|
