Why invest in the School of Leadership Studies at K-State? Private gifts help our students and faculty thrive. We cannot rely solely on grants or higher tuition rates — our future stems from cooperative partnerships with the people who care most about our university.
When people who are passionate about K‑State care enough to share their resources, you have philanthropy. And it’s philanthropy that can make the difference between a dream that comes true and a dream that never gets a chance.
The K-State Volunteer Center of Manhattan offers students so many opportunities to develop as a whole person. Volunteerism cultivates a sense of leadership, social responsibility and a desire to further serve the community. The very nature of volunteer service, however, requires sustainable funding to continue serving others and building capacity. Whether a contribution provides building materials and transportation for our teams of student volunteers, or the operational support required to serve as the university’s and the community’s resource for volunteer management and service learning, your support makes a difference in the K-State community and to the leaders of tomorrow.
The School of Leadership Studies works to offer students as many ways to expand their knowledge and experience as possible. Often, the most effective way to do this is traveling to conferences, participating in international programs, or taking part in events like Leadership Challenge — a four-day residential intensive leadership retreat designed to both identify and create one’s leadership potential and to promote unity and collaboration among K-State students. Participation in these kinds of events exposes students to people, ideas and lessons that can have an enormous impact on how they think about leadership, community and civic duty.
Just as students are able to grow and learn from development opportunities, faculty and staff in the School of Leadership Studies can benefit from similar experiences. K-State faculty also have much to contribute to the emerging field of leadership studies nationally and internationally. Attendance and presentations at professional conferences and leadership seminars, as well as travel and networking, all serve to renew the dedication of our faculty and staff, enrich our program with fresh ideas and new perspectives, and share K-State’s success with others in order to grow and shape the discipline. Faculty and staff members are resources and mentors to our students. If we hope to convey the importance of lifelong learning to them, we must create opportunities to pursue it as well.