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Volume 11 No 4
Civil Rights Summer: A Fellowship for Emerging Social Justice Leaders
In the summer of 2001, a new national leadership development program in civil rights for college students will be launched. Civil Rights Summer - A Fellowship for Emerging Social Justice Leaders (CRS) is designed to place contemporary and future social justice struggles within a national and historical context. CRS has been jointly organized by LCEF/ LCCR, the Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights, and The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University to spark the interest of college sophomores and juniors in public service and civil rights work. Our overarching goal is to inspire and mobilize these students, the future "agents of change," to serve their communities and their country.
It is particularly vital that we spark the interest of these young leaders in the struggle for equal opportunity for all races, genders and ethnic groups. Virtually every significant social and economic debate facing communities nationwide is entangled, explicitly or implicitly, with the struggle for civil rights. It is manifest in the current educational reform movement, in criminal justice, immigration, and anti-discrimination efforts, and is also evident in metropolitan challenges in housing and economic development.
The Institute has been conceived in response to this situation. While the media has written at great length about the lack of interest in careers in public service by today's youth, our personal and professional experience has shown us otherwise. We know that many young people are eager to devote themselves to public service and civil rights work; however, there is little support or encouragement for them to do so. Today, as in no other time, it is of the utmost urgency that we develop new strategies and programs that will reinvigorate their commitment to "making a difference" in the world.
CRS will provide an eight-week summer training and internship program for a diverse group of approximately 20 students from a broad range of colleges and universities around the country. The fellowship begins June 8, 2001, at Harvard University with a week of academic study and leadership training. Then the Fellows will be in Washington, D.C. for seven weeks where they will continue their studies while interning in policy-shaping national organizations. We hope that Fellows will return to their campuses motivated to play a leadership role, supported by their new knowledge and skills and a large network of CRS peers and mentors.
CRS will give students an opportunity to:
- Understand and discuss critical issues and future trends with progressive thinkers and policy leaders from around the country;
- Ground their social justice work in knowledge of civil rights struggles, past and present;
- Learn about advocacy, grassroots organizing, organization leadership, legislation, enforcement, the media, the courts, and other ways to pursue social justice.
- Develop organizing skills and a deep respect for diversity through training as well as through new friends and mentors.
- Engage national civil rights leaders in effective communication with young leaders.
By offering college-aged students with an interest in pursuing civil rights work a structured format that exposes them to national activists, establishes a political and historical context, and creates a network of peers throughout the country, we hope to create a dynamic training ground for a future generation of leaders in the social justice movement.
CRS is currently reviewing final applications and will make the fellowship awards by early April.
  
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