A group of 15 St. Cloud State University students recently traveled to Washington, D.C., for a summit focused on civic responsibility, public service and the role students can play in strengthening their communities.
Students were part of the President’s Leadership Program, a dual effort between SCSU’s Multicultural Student Services and Center for Policy Research and Community Engagement (CPRCE). The President’s Leadership Program debuted in 2021.
The program invited students to experience Washington as emerging leaders. Through site visits, leadership sessions and conversations with public officials and alumni, students examined the question: “What does self-government require of me?”
SCSU faculty and staff, along with President Dr. Gregory Tomso, also participated in the summit. They were present for a leadership session focused on institutions, opportunity and the responsibility students carry back to campus and their home communities.
The summit took place during the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, giving students a timely opportunity to reflect on the nation’s founding claims and the communities included and excluded from those claims. Students visited the White House, the National Archives, the National Museum of the American Indian and the U.S. Capitol.
The group also met with U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and heard from Bob Bissen ’82, senior director of government affairs at the National Head Start Association, Tashiana Osborne ’21, co-operator of Sima Contracting, and Abdul-Hakeem Mustapha ’24 ’25, LMSW, a psychotherapist based in the Baltimore area.
“Throughout the summit, students were asked to connect national history to personal purpose,” said CPRCE Director Dr. King Banaian. “They reflected on the problems they feel prepared to help address and identified first steps they could take after returning home. The experience challenged students to see leadership not simply as a title or position, but as a visible and accountable form of service.”
The President’s Leadership Program is part of SCSU’s continuing commitment to develop students who are prepared to lead with purpose, aspiration and responsibility.
