How Wyoming Catholic College Forms Leaders
In today’s turbulent world, it is essential for future leaders to be prepared physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to face the major decisions and troubles that lie ahead of them. Wyoming Catholic’s academic curriculum, spiritual formation, and outdoor program all work together to facilitate the formation necessary for a strong, well-adjusted leader.
True leadership development is difficult to facilitate and teach, and requires real life experiences. Outdoor programming meets these needs. Fortune 500 businesses and corporations—even NASA—have made use of outdoor programming to develop and strengthen their leaders, and colleges and universities have been offering outdoor leadership programs since the early 1900s. In the last 30 years, hundreds of college orientation programs (including Harvard’s) have incorporated outdoor trips of anywhere from 3-8 days to prepare students for their college life and to enhance their leadership skills. These programs are voluntary, however; typically, less than 10% of their student populations take advantage of the opportunity.
Never before has there been a college that calls for each of its students to undertake a leadership development program as powerful as that required by Wyoming Catholic College. Rather than embarking on a 3-8-day trek that would barely scrape the surface of true leadership development, every student at WCC undertakes a 21-day wilderness leadership course. This is followed by a 7-day winter expedition their Freshman year and by four more years of outdoor programming, specifically designed to create strong, moral, virtuous leaders.
This unique program requires students to practice genuine leadership, allowing them to gain skills and to practice them through actual outdoor experiences rather than reading about them in a book or taking theoretical courses from a professor. Learning through hands-on experience allows students to recognize their leadership abilities, providing them with the confidence they need to be leaders in the future.
There is no doubt that our society needs strong Catholic leaders to help shape our communities, politics, educational institutions, healthcare systems, businesses, corporations, and more. Wyoming Catholic College’s vision incorporates a strong Liberal Arts education with an unprecedented outdoor leadership program, sending forth leaders to shape and strengthen our future.