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| Senator Jim DeMint was on the Furman campus Thursday to present a "South Carolina on the Move" award to the Emerging Leaders Program. |
GREENVILLE, S.C. - U.S. Senator (R-SC) Jim DeMint visited the Furman University campus Thursday morning to present an award to the university's Emerging Public Leaders (EPL) Program.
DeMint presented a "South Carolina on the Move" award to EPL, an annual, on-campus program that focuses on community involvement and provides leadership development opportunities for rising high school seniors. The program is organized and directed by the university's Richard W. Riley Institute of Government, Politics and Public Leadership.
DeMint visited Furman as part of a 14-city, statewide tour to recognize innovative programs and individuals throughout South Carolina.
"Emerging leader is a heavy title to hold," DeMint told the students. "People are looking at you and expecting great things. The test of leadership is not how many followers you have but how many leaders you make."
Eighteen students from high schools in South Carolina, Ohio and Alabama were chosen to participate in this year's EPL program, which began July 31 and will conclude Aug. 6. Students have spent time with local, state and national governmental leaders as well as members of Furman's political science faculty. In addition to meeting Senator DeMint, some of this week's highlights include meeting with Greenville Mayor Knox White; talking to city councilwoman Chandra Dillard; taking a "Poverty Tour" of downtown Greenville; and visiting the Martin Luther King Center in Atlanta.
Each participant is also developing a student-led project that addresses a need in their community. The students will implement the project during their senior year, and next spring, they will return to Furman to present their completed projects. The schools of the students with the most successful projects will receive a cash prize.
"I never considered a career in politics," said Olivia Hightower, a student at Midland Valley High School in South Carolina, "but this has totally changed my viewpoint."
Jonathan Cote, a student at Fort Mill High School in South Carolina, agreed. "This program is teaching us not only how to deal with problems but also how to identify them," he said.
The Emerging Public Leaders program has trained 61 leaders since the program began in 2002.
For more information, contact the Riley Institute at 864-294-3236.
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