“Government will support the training and recruiting of mentors, yet it is the men and women of America who will fill the need. One mentor, one person, can change a life forever, and I urge you to be that one person.”
This was a part of President Bush’s State of the Union Address urging Americans to be a part of a “spirit of service.” Milligan is taking a part in this spirit by adding a new major to the 2002-2003 catalog, the Public Leadership & Service (PL&S) degree.
Mark Matson, academic dean, explained the aim of the program.
“It’s [PL&S] more interdisciplinary than just a communications major, however the emphasis is on communication,” said Matson. “Its aim is giving people a more broad perspective of public leadership.”
PL&S has three emphases ranging from 48 to 50 credit hours.
Emphasis one is aimed at equipping the student with local service and leadership experience.
Emphasis two requires one semester of international study which is primarily the focus of the emphasis. Emphasis three requires one semester at Christian Council of Colleges and Universities’ (CCCU) American Studies Program. Its focus is on a larger field of influence, primarily on a national level.
The ties between Biblical principles in relation to the major, specifically through the “poverty experience,” were evident to sophomore Melanie Veasey.
The “poverty experience” is a requirement in all three emphases where the student does a certain number of hours of service at a local agency, such as Habitat for Humanity or The Salvation Army.
“I’m excited to get to know someone personally and get their perception of the government,” said Veasey.
There aren’t many other schools with a program like PL&S. However, at Duke Divinity School, from which Milligan’s PL&S program was influenced, it is the third most popular major.
“We basically took two of Duke’s programs, their heart leadership program and the information from their Institute of Public Policy and readjusted them for a Christ emphasis,” said Matson.
It took Milligan two years to add PL&S. First a program is purposed by an area, in this case social learning, to the academic committee. The academic committee then reviews it. They send the proposal to the entire faculty for a vote and the trustees make final approval.
Matson and Bert Allen, chair and area director of social learning, were the primary advocates for this new major.
“It grew out of an awareness of ours [Allen and Matson’s] to prepare students not only for the corporate life, but that a significant segment of them were also interested in public work,” said Allen.
Only four students are currently PL&S majors. However, freshmen Jessica Schiwitz and Lindsey Vogt, two of the four PL&S majors, foresee the program growing in the future.
“Once people get word of it I think it will definitely attract more students,” said Schiwitz.
Vogt said, “Hopefully it will start attracting more upperclassmen too. I don’t know of any other school with the program; in fact this major is the reason I came to Milligan.”