Hardin-Simmons University Leadership Studies Program

04/24/2020

Leadership Studies Seniors '19-'20 (updated)

I sent this message to HSU faculty, but feel compelled to post it here as well. Our students are ones who go above and beyond each and every day. Congratulations to our graduates!!!

"Since I'm not able to meet with and properly brag on my LDSP graduates this semester, I am going to brag on them to you. Making a senior tribute video is something that I've done for the past few years. I'm sharing this one with you--because these are your students as well.

Every picture in this movie features at least one LDSP graduating senior. The pictures come from our beyond-the-classroom learning and service experiences. To begin to grasp what they've done, please scan through the picture descriptions further down in this message. And they've done all these things on top of their other classes and responsibilities. Please give them an extra dose of congratulations when you communicate with them next."

Pictures come from:

-Two Florida Crisis Simulations
-Two Texas Crisis Simulations
-Two Outdoor Leadership classes
-Two Model United Nations conferences
-Two Civil Rights Movement travel courses
-Two study abroad adventures in Vienna (side trips to Prague and Salzburg)
-Two Presidents class trips
-Two Great Leaders of History classes (Vienna and Texas history)
-Two Organization Builders classes (New York City and Seattle)
-Two Mexico-to-Canada bike rides
-Three all-volunteer, charity bike rides across Texas
-One all-volunteer bike ride across Missouri
-Service projects
-Campus service events
-Speaker events
-Leadership Late Nights
-Leadership Retreats
-December 2019 graduation

In order of appearance:

Pike Place Market (PPM) , Seattle
U.S./Canada border
U.S. Embassy, Vienna
Alamo, San Antonio
Purple Jackets
HEB (HEB) Foundation Camp
HSU Model United Nations
Melonball Late Night
Texas Crisis Simulation #1 (TCS)
Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge (WMWR)
Times Square, NYC
Nebraska/South Dakota border
Vienna 2018
Bismarck, ND
WMWR
Burggarten, Vienna
Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna
South Dakota/Minnesota border
Plains Baptist Camp and Retreat Center
U.S. Embassy, Vienna
FBC Abilene Trunk or Treat
Artist visit, Vienna
LaGuardia Airport
Oklahoma/Kansas border
WMWR
Christmas Late Night
St. Augustine, Florida Crisis Simulation (FLCS) VII
FBC Abilene Trunk or Treat
South Dakota laughs
Donauinsel, Vienna
WMWR
Conclusion of BRATS5
FLCS VII
WMWR
BRAM conclusion
Brooklyn Bridge, NYC
Melonball Late Night
3D Late Night
FLCS VII
WMWR
Danube bike ride, 2016
Outdoor Leadership 7
Leaving for LBJ100
Salzburg Zoo
WMWR
Student Organization Fair
Booker T. Washington house, 2017
Rocheport, MO
Beethoven Statue, Vienna
Eagle Pass, TX - BRATS5
Bullock Museum, Austin
Restore Church, Austin
Magnusson at Abilene Public Library
Hmmm, Skiles Building
WMWR
Boating on the Danube
Kansas/Nebraska border
Texas Crisis Simulation (TCS) 2
WMWR
Streets of Vienna
U.S./Canada border
University of Washington
Brooklyn Bridge, NYC
Vienna State Opera
U.S./Canada border
Strauss statue, Vienna
Clinton, MO - Katy Trail trailhead
WMWR
Christmas at Patterson house
New York City
Nebraska/South Dakota border
FLCS VII
WMWR
Texico, NM - start of BRAT7
BRAT veterans
Crescent Beach, FL - FLCS VII
Harry S. Truman House
Danube bike ride, 2018
Restore Church, Austin
Streets of Vienna
Kansas/Missouri border - BRAM
FLCS VII, U of Florida
Schönbrunn Palace
Statue of Liberty
WMWR
Surfside Beach, BRAT6
Amazon HQ, Seattle
WMWR breakfast
Portage Des Sioux, BRAM
Magnusson HSU visit
Mozarthaus, Vienna
9/11 Museum, NYC
Community First Village, Austin
Del Rio, BRATS4
Oklahoma/Texas border
Maria-Theresien-Platz
Kansas/Nebraska border
Imperial Treasury, Vienna
HEB Camps
Fremont Troll, Seattle
GHW Bush Library
Ubahn, Vienna
Martin Luther King, Jr. home, Atlanta
Dec. 2019 graduation
Haus des Meeres, Vienna
Parlament/Hofburg Palace, Vienna
Giddings, BRAT7
Amazon, Seattle
TCS2
Danube bike ride, 2018
Votivkirche, Vienna
PPM, Vienna
TCS2
BRATS5
Der Musikverein Wien
TCS2
Christmas Late Night
Oklahoma/Kansas border
Streets of Vienna
Big Bend, BRAT8
Jimi Hendrix statue, Seattle
Belvedere Palace, Vienna
WMWR
DFW MUN
Quintana Beach, BRAT7
LBJ Ranch
PPM, Seattle
HEB
Mt. Rainier National Park
HEB
Maria-Theresien-Platz
Rocheport, MO
Mt. Rainier NP
Ubahn, Vienna
Oberlin, KS
FBC Abilene Trunk or Treat
Haydn House, Vienna
Booker T. Washington house 2019
Dec. 2019 graduation
Bremerton-Seattle Ferry
TCS2
U.S./Canada border
Streets of Vienna
BRAT7
WMWR
Prater, Vienna
Texas/Louisiana border
Washington Capitol
PPM, Seattle
U.S./Canada border
Streets of Vienna
FLCS VII, UF
National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis
Schönbrunn Palace
BRAT7
DFW MUN
U of Alabama
Bremerton-Seattle Ferry
U.S./Canada border
Texas State Capitol
Mt. Rainier NP
LBJ Library
WMWR
Austrian Parlament
GHW Bush Library
Truman Library
Original Starbucks, Seattle
Alabama Capitol
Wall Street
Prague
Dec. 2019 graduation
U of Mississippi
Top of the Rock
Eastside Baptist - McCamey
Eisenhower Library, Kansas
Danube bike ride 2018
BRAT8
Valentine, Nebraska
FLCS VII
NYC
United Nations, Vienna
Restore Church, Austin
Red River, BRAT8
LBJ Library
South Dakota Capitol
Brahams Statue, Vienna
WMWR
Dec. 2019 graduation
United Nations, Vienna
Rio Grande, BRAT8
Eisenhower Library
Memphis
Ubahn, Vienna
Mt. Rainier NP
Crescent Beach, FL FLCS IX
Strauss Statue, Vienna
Prague
South Dakota/North Dakota border
Brown Chapel, Selma
Federal Hall, NYC
Selma 2019
Civil Rights 2019
Austrian Parlament
FLCS IX
LBJ gravesite
Selma 2017
Bremerton-Seattle Ferry
Missouri River, BRAM
DFW MUN
Mt. Rainier NP
Prague
Lorraine Motel, Memphis
Microsoft HQ, Seattle
GHW Bush Library

https://youtu.be/PADg9eWI9o4

Senior tribute video for our 2019-2020 graduates. It is amazing to look back over the things we've done together through your time in the program. Thanks for...

04/24/2020

Another “yep, we’ve been there too” moment from Facebook. After reaching the Rio Grande on BRAT8, cleaning up at the camp headquarters, and starting our drive back to Marathon Baptist Church for the night, we visited this display on the way out of the park.

04/24/2020

Tonight’s “we’ve been there (twice) moment” watching Godspell. The Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. We studied Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of American landscape architecture, as part of our NYC Org. Builders classes. We also visited an Olmsted-designed park last semester in Seattle.

04/23/2020

Here’s another one of those “we’ve been there” moments while watching videos on the television. During our second Mexico-to-Canada bike ride, we spent a rainy afternoon and evening in Valentine, Nebraska. We walked out on this bridge during our afternoon exploring the area. On our 1,600-mile ride across six states, this was the only time we experienced rain on the journey. Great memories from an adventure that few people in the world have ever done.

WE TRAINED, PLANNED, RAISED SUPPORT, FOUND HOSTS, VISITED WITH MEDIA, MET MANY WONDERFUL PEOPLE, AND RODE BICYCLES 1,600 MILES FROM EAGLE PASS, TEXAS TO THE BORDER NORTH OF WESTHOPE, NORTH DAKOTA! That is not normal. We have never been normal.

04/22/2020

Memory from 13 years ago today. Outdoor Leadership 2 at Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. Some things just can’t be replaced through online education. Is it bad that I was wearing that hat and shorts yesterday??? 🤫😬😀

04/17/2020

I had to write up an activities report for this semester. Look at what we did even in this strange semester.

In the week before the start of classes in January, we completed an all-volunteer, 560-mile, charity bicycle ride across Texas to raise money for people and families affected by cancer. In February, we traveled with Model United Nations students to the Florida Crisis Simulation at the University of Florida--this was the third consecutive year for LDSP/MUN students to participate in this conference. Our Great Leaders of History class traveled to Texas history sites in San Antonio, Austin, and Washington-on-the-Brazos over a four-day trip at the end of February. On that trip, we also visited the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station--the seventh presidential library and site visited in the previous 16 months. The Leading Teams class, which includes performing in musical ensembles on saxophones, continues to prepare for their final virtual recital. We also had to cancel an everything-is-in-place study abroad trip to Vienna and Dublin with students in July 2020.

Truly exceptional and unbelievable that we have only one more year of these opportunities.

04/17/2020

Like I said yesterday, it is so fun seeing things pop up on FB and thinking back to the memorable times I’ve spent with students at these places. We don’t make deep connections to regular classes and ordinary methods of teaching and learning like we do with outside-of-class adventures. And when you think about it, you realize that learning involves long-term storage and connections in the brain. That’s what we’ve done together for many years. Auf wiedersehen.

Parks of Vienna ❤️❤️❤️
Where in Vienna do you like to hang out?
#ViennaWaitsForYou

04/16/2020

United Nations Vienna

And when THIS pops up in your newsfeed—I told you that it happens often. We’ve toured the UN in Vienna three times and participated in two MUN conferences at these incredible facilities. We cancelled our seventh and final trip to Vienna this summer, but were ready and eager to go back.

Empty corridors, deserted meeting rooms & offices - not the usual bustling #UNVienna - due to the #COVID19 pandemic the building is closed & >97% are working remotely. It's eerily quiet - catch a glimpse here 📽👇

#FlattenTheCurve
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
UNODC - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
UNIDO - United Nations Industrial Development Organization
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization
United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)

04/16/2020

It’s fun seeing random ads with pictures pop up in Facebook and realizing that you’ve been there with students. It happens more often than you’d think. This doesn’t happen by only sitting in a classroom or learning online. We’ve been different for a long time. Time is running out on these experiences at HSU.

04/14/2020

Leadership Studies Seattle Trip 2019

Since I am inviting your students to participate in some extraordinary learning opportunities, here's one more.

We will offer our Organization Builders (LDSP 3360 A) course for the final time in the Fall 2020 semester. We will study people who built long-lasting organizations, movements, and places in Boston. The course will include a trip to Boston over Thanksgiving week. Scholarship funds are available. Contact me for information.

Here is a video from last semester's Organization Builders class trip to Seattle. Students studied and visited Starbucks, Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, REI, Pike Place Market, and other popular and historic places in the city.

And here's a link to the video from our previous Org. Builders trip to NYC: https://youtu.be/CUPHI91by6U

Students in the Organization Builders class spent Thanksgiving week (2019) in Seattle, Washington visiting places and companies studied in class. Getting to ...

04/13/2020

LBJ Library and Ranch 2016 - HSU Leadership Studies Program

Our first Presidents class trip to the LBJ Library and Ranch is what reinforced the importance of the course and topics. We will offer our third (and final) version of the course in the Fall 2020 semester. If you or someone you know are looking for an important and meaningful class, shoot me a message to learn how to sign up.

Our Truman-Eisenhower-Kennedy trip will take place over Fall Break weekend and the LBJ trip will take place two weeks later. Scholarship funds are available. Please come share this experience with us before the opportunity is gone.

Students in Presidents class at Hardin-Simmons University visited LBJ Library, Museum, Research Center, and Ranch. Leadership Studies Program, September 25-2...

04/10/2020

Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge 2017 - HSU Leadership Studies Program

Memory from three years ago. Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge was part of all eight Outdoor Leadership classes with Bob Sanderson. This last trip was one of the best. It was a Thursday-Sunday trip with beautiful weather and a lot of awesome people.

We are and always have been extraordinary--and so much more than any one thing!

Video from Outdoor Leadership #7 class trip to Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in the Spring 2017 semester. Students put book concepts into practice throug...

04/10/2020

HSU Leadership Presidential Libraries Trip

If you are a student (or know a student) at HSU, I invite you to enroll in our Presidents class (LDSP 3099 A) in the Fall 2020 semester as an elective. We will study the first four atomic-era presidents and then visit their presidential libraries and historic sites.

This will be the last time that this experience is offered at HSU. Scholarship funds are available. Contact me for more information.

Here is the video from last year's class--it features clips at Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy sites. Don't miss your final chance...it's really good!

https://youtu.be/uOGN4kahFyg

Clips from visits to Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy presidential sites in Independence, MO, Abilene, KS, and Dallas, TX. The trip was part of the Presidents...

04/06/2020

Leadership Studies is a diverse and multi-faceted field. In case you haven’t already picked up on it, we study these concepts from a number of diverse perspectives. This summer’s Leadership in Film (LiF) class, where we use popular movies as case studies of our leadership and organization theories, is changing to an online format. This is being done in response to the possibility of continuing COVID-19 concerns and to keep students from needing to move back Abilene for three weeks. Our newly discovered methods of online instruction and videoconferencing will make this, our last LiF section at HSU, a fun and interesting May Term class. We are so much more than any one thing or way of learning!

04/05/2020

Civil Rights Movement Travel Course 2019 - HSU Leadership Studies Program

Found this video stored under my personal YouTube account instead of this one. The Civil Rights Movement travel course and all of our associated research and preparation is one of the most valuable and meaningful things we’ve done through our program.

Here is a compilation of daily video blogs from our last trip. As you remember, we made stops and visits in Jackson, Selma, Montgomery, Tuskegee, Atlanta, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Memphis, and Little Rock.

https://youtu.be/TEypBBnJ-ls

Compilation of daily videos from visits on the 2019 Civil Rights Movement travel course. Ministry, Social Work, and Leadership Studies students at Hardin-Sim...

04/04/2020

Leadership Studies Seniors '19-'20 (updated)

I woke up early this morning thinking about more pictures to include in our Senior Tribute video. Here is the new and improved version--it's even more impressive!

These graduates were part of an extraordinary period in the history of the Leadership Studies Program. The number and diversity of in-class and out-of-class learning experiences and extra-curricular activities is unmatched by traditional academic programs. It's hard to believe that this is all coming to an end at HSU. Congratulations and well done!

Pictures come from:
-Two Florida Crisis Simulations
-Two Texas Crisis Simulations
-Two Outdoor Leadership classes
-Two Model United Nations conferences
-Two Civil Rights Movement travel courses
-Two study abroad adventures in Vienna (side trips to Prague and Salzburg)
-Two Presidents class trips
-Two Great Leaders of History classes (Vienna and Texas history)
-Two Organization Builders classes (New York City and Seattle)
-Two Mexico-to-Canada bike rides
-Three bike rides across Texas
-One bike ride across Missouri
-Service projects
-Campus service events
-Speaker events
-Leadership Late Nights
-Leadership Retreats
-December 2019 graduation

https://youtu.be/PADg9eWI9o4

Senior tribute video for our 2019-2020 graduates. It is amazing to look back over the things we've done together through your time in the program. Thanks for...

04/02/2020

Seattle 2019 - YouTube

Our NYC Organization Builders classes were tremendous, but they were matched with an equally impressive trip to Seattle last semester. Starbucks, Boeing, Amazon, REI, Pike Place Fish Market, and Microsoft were some of the places we studied and visited. Six of our seven LDSP graduates this semester were on the Seattle trip. If this was the last Org. Builders trip at HSU, it was a good one to end on.

04/02/2020

New York City - YouTube

Researching other universities and found reference to a student trip to NYC. We’ve done it twice and had tremendous (and exhausting) times visiting places and organizations that we studied in class and appreciating the people who brought them to life. I am looking forward to returning with new students in the future.