“We Lead by the Rule”: How the Benedictine, Catholic Tradition Can Prepare Students for Leadership

Kennedy Union 222

This presentation describes Saint Martin’s University’s newly implemented credit-bearing leadership certificate program, called the Benedictine Leaders Program (BLP). A partnership between Student Affairs and Academics, BLP draws from the Rule of St. Benedictine, the Benedictine values, and the Benedictine, Catholic mission and identity of the university to help students develop into courageous, moral leaders who can address the issues facing our shared humanity. In this presentation, we share how BLP developed from a series of workshops to a three credit leadership certificate program instructed by Student Affairs staff. Our motto for the program reflects the influence of our Benedictine charism: “We lead by the Rule.” We explain the key components of BLP and offer strategies to help Student Affairs staff build partnerships with Academics to implement a credit-bearing leadership program on their own campus.