LETTERSLETTERS

A publication of The Ronald W. Reagan Leadership Program

LeadershipLeadership

INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 2012

A publication of The Ronald W. Reagan Leadership ProgramA publication of The Ronald W. Reagan Leadership ProgramA publication of The Ronald W. Reagan Leadership ProgramA publication of The Ronald W. Reagan Leadership Program

8 PROFILES IN LEADERSHIP: Former & Current Reagan Fellows > Sarah Lunt Ewart & Aaron Case

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contents2

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THE MARK R. SHENKMAN REAGAN RESEARCH CENTER

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Managing Editor J. David Arnold

Writers Brittnay Darby, Kelly Gschwend Copy Editor Michele Lehman Art Director Malone Sizelove

Leadership Letters A Publication of Eureka College and The Ronald W. Reagan Leadership Program, is published through

The Ronald W. Reagan Society of Eureka College. ©2012 Eureka College, Eureka, Illinois 61530.

3VISION & VOICE > Dr. J. David Arnold

PRESIDENT MIKHAIL GORBACHEV CONVOCATION SPEECH > With a student Q&A follow up

PRACTICE POINTS: Developing Tomorrow’s Global Leaders > Dr. Michael Thurwanger

12POLICY POINTS: On Great Leadership > Henry R. Nau

VISIONEureka College President

> Dr. J. David Arnold

Dear Friends,

Welcome to this international issue of Leadership Letters: A Publication of the

Ronald W. Reagan Leadership Program at Eureka College. Through an examina-

tion of Mikhail Gorbachev’s remarks about Reagan as his partner in peace and

other topical articles, this issue will address the role of international and global

perspectives on the development of leadership in college students.

For example, how did a residential liberal arts college surrounded by cornfields

prepare Ronald (Dutch) Wilson Reagan, who also was raised in rural Midwestern

communities, to become a world leader? Are the leadership lessons he learned

at Eureka College still relevant for young people today as they prepare to face

contemporary international challenges? How are opportunities for international

leadership lessons embedded in the Reagan Leadership Program at Eureka College?

At the Reagan and the Midwest conference held at Eureka in January 2011, historian Andrew Cayton discussed

the ethos of early 20th Century Midwestern rural town culture whereby the goal of public discourse situated in

Main Street institutions was to persuade others of the virtue of your point of view through face-to-face com-

munication and effective argumentation. Does Cayton’s Midwestern historical illustration create a parallel to the

factors in-play at a face-to-face international summit meeting between two powerful world leaders in the late

20th Century?

Taken together, the articles in this international issue of Leadership Letters demonstrate the virtue of studying

the development of leadership in a great world leader and extrapolating these findings to programs designed to

cultivate exceptional leadership in the next generation of world leaders—an approach that we at Eureka College

call “ReaganForward.”

In 1982, when President Reagan lent his name to establish a new leadership program at Eureka College, it was

with the understanding that graduates would “lead and serve” in their communities and the world by applying

leadership lessons forged from the integration of liberal arts coursework and international placements called

mentorships. Indeed, Reagan believed that in addition to lessons learned in college classrooms, learning by doing,

or applied learning, especially in international settings, was an essential component of the Reagan Leadership

Program at Eureka College.

Yours in ReaganForward,

J. David Arnold, Ph.D.

President

Voice

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&

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President Mikhail GorbachevConvocation at Eureka CollegeFriday, March 27, 2009

FEATURE STORY

Former Soviet President

Mikhail Gorbachev

visited Eureka College,

the alma mater of his

partner in peace, Ronald

Wilson Reagan, on March

27, 2007. During his

campus visit, President

Gorbachev toured both

the Reagan Museum and

the Peace Garden that

contains a section of the

Berlin Wall. The following

remarks by Mr. Gorbachev

were delivered at an aca-

demic convocation in his

honor just after he

received an honorary

degree from Eureka College.

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Now, let me say a few words here to you at this moment of this celebration. I would like to thank you. I would like to thank the College—the College that is associated with the name of my partner, President

Reagan, with whom we had to work together in order to respond to the challenge of stopping the nuclear arms race, of saving the world for new generations, for new generations and their chil-dren… We have just visited the Ronald Reagan Museum, and that reminded me of many things that we did together.

IT SO HAPPENED that when President

Reagan was starting his second presidential

term, just a few months after the inaugura-

tion on March 11, 1985, I was elected Gen-

eral Secretary of the CPS and Central Com-

mittee. This word sounds very big, but it

doesn’t mean that much now. That was the

highest supreme position in the old Soviet

Union. I don’t know at whose wish and at

whose direction, it just so happened histori-

cally that there was an intersection of two ca-

reers. President Reagan, who by that time had

an established reputation as a hawk, wanted

to conclude his political career as a man of

peace, as a peacemaker. He needed a partner,

and the changes that happened in the Soviet

Union at the very top of the Soviet Govern-

ment produced an opportunity for him, and

certainly for me as well. President Reagan is

exactly 20 years older than I am. I appreci-

ated that and took a very respectful attitude

toward him. But a President is a President,

and both of us as leaders were responsible

to our nations and, given the fact that those

were such super powers, we were responsible

to the world. We remained human beings—

that’s very important. That gave us a chance

later to chart the road to peace.

And as I have said, my very first meet-

ing with the President, the beginnings of

our first meeting, was not very promising.

After my first private talk with President

Reagan, that’s when we returned to our own

delegations, my colleagues asked me what

was my impression of him. (And by the way,

before that, for six years there hadn’t been

a single summit between the Soviet Union

and America.) At a time when it was so im-

portant to take positions on the challenges

that we were facing, the leaders of the two

single powers had not met for six years. So

when my colleagues asked me of my impres-

sion of President Reagan, I said, “He is a real

dinosaur.” I still cannot explain the choice of

words. Well, that was the established—the pre-

ferred—view of President Reagan. President

Reagan was asked a similar question by the

members of his delegation what he thought

about me and he said, “Gorbachev is a die-

hard Bolshevik.”

But two days after that first meeting,

during which we had meetings, we got to-

gether, we took walks, we discussed things

sitting at the fireside, there was an expecta-

tion that we would be able to perhaps open

some doors—maybe only a window. But

two days afterwards, and I think that was the

result perhaps of our intuition, we were able

to start getting along. I felt that we would

get along. And as I said, two days later, we

adopted a joint statement in which we said

that a nuclear war can never be won and

must never be fought. And I thought that it

is important today here to mention it here in

the College that is associated with the name

of Ronald Reagan.

Yes, we were able to cover a lot of

ground. It was difficult as both of us were

men of principle. Based on the new vision,

on the new appreciation of the realities

that we were facing, on the analysis of the

situation and on the danger that we, all of

us—the entire planet could one day become

a victim of a nuclear war—based on all of

that, based on the understanding of what’s

most important for all of us, we were able

to draw certain conclusions—to come to

certain conclusions.

I recently asked George Shultz—the

Secretary of State who worked with the

President, when he was visiting me at the

Gorbachev Foundation—about what hap-

pened. I said that it is still difficult to fully

evaluate what happened during those years.

“

President Reagan was a man of conviction. He was a man of values and a person who has his own views and who is deeply religious. There can be many things that can be said about Ronald Reagan.

“ “ 6

All of us were surrounded with all kinds of

problems, with all kinds of commitments and

with a lot of suspicion and mistrust to transcend

all of that. It’s incredible that we were able to do

it. I’m still, I say, “amazed.” I am perhaps more

amazed now than before that we were able to

pull it off and I asked George, “Was there any

other American leader other than Reagan who

could have done that? Who could have recipro-

cated our initiative, who could have met us half-

way?” After a moment, Shultz answered, “No.

There was no other person at that time who

could have done that.” President Reagan was

a man of conviction. He was a man of values

and a person who has his own views and who is

deeply religious. There can be many things that

can be said about Ronald Reagan. I was a very

different person but we were able to pull it off.

I think that today, standing here, here in the

place where Ronald Reagan spent several years,

How did President Reagan change your view of the United States and Americans?I would say that I saw in President Rea-gan a partner. We said that we don’t want to play games—gambits—that we don’t want to deceive the United States. When this was repeated many times and when

this was reinforced by specific steps—first of all President Reagan started to change, his view changed. I think both of us remained committed to our values. As political leaders, we both understood that we could cooperate. I remember a meeting with President Reagan at which he started to, what I felt, lecture me. I had to stop him. I said, “Mr. President, you are not a teacher and I am not a student. And even less so, you are not a prosecutor and I am not the accused. If you want to work together to chart the road to the future, then, we can do it, but only if we work as equals and only if our cooperation is that of equals.” He said, “Well, you misunderstood me.” I was grateful that I had a chance to say what I had to say and that kind of lecturing never repeated itself, never happened again. Then a few days later, he said, “Call me Ron and I’ll call you Mikhail, is that okay?” The human side was very important.

People ask me often about that human side. Well, it was an evolving relationship and our trust emerged gradually. Of course, there was also the work of our diplomats—of our experts and various others who worked on the relationship. But I think that the starting point is the human relationship—establishing a normal human relationship—and that was accomplished. The next President, President Bush, in his memoirs—those of you who read those memoirs remember—that he said Gorbachev was a difficult ne-gotiator but whenever we agreed on something, we knew that everything would be fulfilled, everything would

where he studied, where I understand he took part in 14 amateur performances, plays—and by

the way, he continued to be an actor, and so when I was asked how I reacted to the famous speech

in which President Reagan said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” standing at the Berlin Wall,

what was the impression, people asked. I said, “Well, very honestly, very honestly, that did not im-

press us that much because we knew that—we never forgot that—President Reagan’s initial career

was as an actor.” Of course, today we can joke and laugh, but when all is said and done, he was a

great man. I am ready to say that because it was he alone who could do that as a leader of his coun-

try and as a person bearing tremendous responsibility for this nation of great diversity.

Once again, thank you. I wish the students to continue on the path of knowledge—on the path

that was taken by that great man and by other people who were mentioned here and who made a

great contribution to your country by addressing the problems that your country is facing.”

Eureka College students were given the opportu-nity to ask President Gorbachev questions after he completed his formal remarks. The following are some of the questions President Gorbachev was asked and his responses.

failure; this is a breakthrough. We have seen that an agreement is possible. An agreement is possible.” The SDI was a different subject and I turned out to be right. A few months later we started the process of nuclear arms reduction. We destroyed INF mis-siles and continued that process.

Ronald Reagan once said that everything good in his life began here, speaking of Eureka College. How does it make you feel to visit this place and is there a similar person, place or institution to which you would give the same credit?Moscow University is that place—my alma ma-ter. Without the knowledge, the education that I received there, without a chance to spend time in Moscow, for a person from the heartland of Russia who had never seen Moscow—when I was going to Moscow University that was the first time in my life that I had taken a train—so the opportunity that made it possible for me, I think, set in motion all that was inherent in me as a person. I owe the University all of that. Not only the University, but also I owe a great deal to my family—to my father and mother, to my grand-father also—particularly my maternal grandfa-ther. They had a tremendous influence on me. I was a really convinced communist. When I was in high school, I became a member of the com-munist party and I wrote an essay, a high school essay, about Stalin. I saw today President Rea-gan’s essay that he wrote here at this College. I graduated with honors from high school and my essay received an “A.” That opened the road for me to the University. University, I think, opened for me the path not only to a profession, but to the world. So I’m grateful to my University. I then later studied in the school of economics. I always wanted to study. My parents were barely liter-ate. No one ever controlled me but I controlled myself. Remember that—no outside control, no coercion will do it, even the student body cannot make you do anything if you don’t want to.

What makes a great leader? Life.

What do you want most to be remembered for?I reply to this question always the same way. His-tory is a fickle lady. I would like for history to be able to say that this person certainly tried, he certainly tried to do something good, something important. He certainly tried to work for the peo-ple and this is indeed what I am still trying to do.

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be implemented. So it’s those things. It’s that kind of atmosphere and that kind of work that created an influence. I don’t know who influ-enced more. It’s dialogue—sometimes contentious dialogue. It showed me that we can work together, that we can cooperate and that I could rely—that I could depend on—the President’s word. Americans took time looking at Gorbachev and we were trying to stimulate them. Presi-dent Reagan, I knew, wanted to change the situation, but he too was worried about making a mistake. He was taking tremendous criticism from many, including some people very close to him. There is this re-cent book about President Reagan by James Mann that describes this. I learned a great deal about what he was facing. So I think that both of us learned. Both of us understood with time that we could work together on the most important issues because there was trust between the two of us and our dialogue, our discussions and our work together gave us the chance to get along.

President Reagan often noted that he based many of his decisions and policies on his Christian faith. What moral convictions led to your decision to take on 70 years of structure and tradition to bring revo-lutionary change to the Soviet Union and is there a faith component to them?Well, I have said in my remarks what motivated me to start the process of change. Above all, it was the widespread demand in our society for change. It was somewhat similar to the demand for change in the recent elections in this country. I had grown up in my country. I was looking at the situation and I saw that our people, who had gone through several revolutions, collectivization, industrialization, the War, they needed—they wanted—a more dignified situation. They wanted to live and to grow their children and to build a future in a different way. So, respond-ing to that was the most important source of what I did and of the deci-sions that I took. And, of course, in our country, we had both believers and nonbelievers. All of the world’s principal religions are represented and all of them supported the process of Perestroika. In 1990, I gath-ered the religious leaders together in the Kremlin. They were sitting at the same table as the Politburo—as the country’s leadership. And I said, “Let us write a law about freedom of conscience, about freedom of religion in our country.” And that law was adopted.

What was the most memorable interaction between you and President Reagan and is there anything that you would change about your work together?I wouldn’t change anything. It looked like we had a failure at Reykjavik, but that’s a very superficial evaluation of Reykjavik. When the meeting ended, the President was very somber, very unhappy, because I had refused to agree to the document that was being discussed about the reduction of nuclear weapons because I disagreed with the Strategic Defense Initiative. The American side, the U.S. side, said to the press that the Reykjavik summit was a failure. Forty minutes later I had my own press conference that was attended by 1,000 reporters, and when I entered the room and looked at their faces, I saw that all of them were shocked. It had seemed that we would be able to conclude our sum-mit on a positive note with positive results and then they heard from the American delegation that the Reykjavik summit had been a failure. I told them what had happened in Reykjavik, and I said, “This is not a

Former & Current Reagan Fellows > SARAH LUNT EWART & AARON CASE

profiles SARAH LUNT EWART discovered

Eureka College along with the Ronald W. Reagan

Leadership Program when she was a high school

junior, living in Ohio. After receiving mail from the college,

Sarah and her parents decided to visit the cam-

pus, and were impressed with the faculty, the

small community, and the multiple opportuni-

ties available. Sarah’s Eureka College experiences

included spending a summer at Sophia University in

Tokyo, participating in a United Nations World

Conference in Beijing, China, completing several

internships in Washington, D.C., and traveling to New

York City and Washington, D.C. with the Reagan

Fellows. Sarah even met Ronald and Nancy Reagan.

After graduating with honors and a B.A. in History in

1996, Sarah went to the London School of Economics,

in London UK, where she completed a master’s in inter-

national development studies. Upon completion, Sarah

worked in Washington, D.C. as a contractor for the U.S.

Agency for International Development. Realizing

that she needed practical experience working in

developing countries (rather than just from academic

training reading about poverty in books), she joined

the U.S. Peace Corps.

For two years, Sarah lived in a small, rural Senegalese

village, where she worked primarily as a health volunteer,

focusing heavily on malaria prevention. At that

in Leadership

time, malaria was the leading cause of

death in Senegal, primarily in children

under five. Sarah discovered her passion

for global health through her work in the

small rural village. It has been her most

rewarding experience so far.

Upon returning to the U.S., Sarah moved

to Seattle, where she worked as a Program

Officer for four years at a non-profit global

health organization called PATH in a program

called the Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI),

contributing to the future development

and delivery of the world’s first malaria vaccine.

In early 2007, she left PATH to start her own

consulting firm, working primarily in the area of

global health with an emphasis on supporting

the research and development of new products

for neglected diseases.

Sarah is currently a Senior Program Officer with

the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global

Health Policy & Advocacy Team. Sarah leads

and implements the foundation’s strategy to

increase global financing to develop new global

health technologies such as drugs, vaccines, and

diagnostics.

Eureka College and the Reagan Leadership

Program shaped the person Sarah is today.

“Eureka College offered a well-rounded liberal arts

education with personal attention from professors

made possible by small class sizes,” Sarah said.

“That experience, complemented by summer in-

ternships, provided opportunities that eventually

led me to where I am today.”

When asked what her biggest accomplish-

ment is so far, she says, “…being the mother

of two bright and special daughters,” who

are 6 and 3. As for her biggest professional

accomplishment, “That story is still to be written.”

— Kelly Gschwend

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Growing up, AARON CASE watched his mother—an immigrant

from El Salvador—learn English by watching former President Ronald

Reagan speak on television.

“At that time, the people of El Salvador were being oppressed,” Aaron

said. “My mom wrote to Reagan, urging him to help her people. He replied

to my mom by writing her a personal letter, and that was when I first knew

he was a great man.” It was only appropriate then that Case follow in the

footsteps of Reagan’s legacy, attending his alma mater and earning the

four-year full-tuition scholarship known as the Reagan Fellowship. Aaron

is currently pursuing degrees in pre-medicine and chemistry at Eureka

College.

The Reagan Fellowship program has also given Aaron the opportunities

to have mentorships abroad in places such as Bitburg, Germany and his

mother’s native homeland of El Salvador.

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Aaron’s mentorship in Bitburg had him working in a hospi-

tal, in the cardiology and internal medicine departments,

where he was responsible for drawing blood, setting up

IVs, assisting with surgeries, and admitting and stabilizing

patients.

While in Germany, Aaron also explored a Bitburg

cemetery where Reagan had once visited to pay his

respects to the young men who had died in the the

World Wars. Aaron also traveled to Berlin where

he saw a display of pictures of all the world lead-

ers who helped increase freedom in eastern Germany,

including one of Reagan.

“It was amazing to see all of the things dedicated to

Reagan in Germany, and to see his impact from across

the world,” Aaron said. “I think it is the nature of Eureka

students to contribute to the world in the same way that

he did.”

Although Aaron thoroughly enjoyed his experiences in

Germany, he said that he found his true calling when he

traveled to El Salvador. He worked in the orthopedics and

traumatology departments in a hospital in El Salvador where

he was on site for 36 hours per week, assisted with six sur-

geries, made braces, made orders for x-rays, and aided with

various emergencies including car accidents and gunshot

wounds.

Beyond the educational experiences that Aaron gained

while in El Salvador, he was also touched by the suffering

people that he saw. “I witnessed poverty and a calling for

help in the area,” he said. “People are literally living in tin

houses. I wish I could have helped these people, and added

more of a service component to my mentorship.”

Case has since committed to try and return to El Salvador

every year to volunteer in the poorer parts of the country.

“Being abroad helps you realize that the world is bigger

than Eureka, Illinois,” he explained. “You come to realize

that you can make such a big impact in the lives of others.”

Aaron is currently applying to medical schools, both in and

out of state. He intends to pursue his medical degree with

a specialization in orthopedics.

— Brittany Darby

POLICYpoints.

REAT LEADERSHIP THAT INSPIRES

AND IMPROVES HUMAN LIFE is a rare commodity. It comes

along maybe once or twice a century. In my generation it came

along in the presidency of Ronald Reagan. I have no doubt that

when the partisan dust settles, Ronald Reagan will join the panthe-

on of America’s great presidents.

What makes a great leader? Great challenges do. But great leaders

are made from the inside as well as from the outside.

with Henry R. Nau

points.

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Henry Nau,Professor of Politics and

International Affairs, The George Washington

UniversityG

A similar moment came in November 1982. The

U.S. and world economy were still deep in the

doldrums, and daily street protests in Europe

threatened to undermine NATO missile deploy-

ments to counter the Soviet Union. My boss, the

National Security Adviser, visited Reagan pri-

vately. “Mr. President, what should we do? Do

we need a Plan B?” After some discussion and

thought, Reagan replied: “No, fellows, we’re on

the right track. I think things will turn around here

shortly, and if they don’t, I go back to the ranch

in 1984. How bad can that be?” Here was a great

leader, granite-like completely at rest with him-

self and his policies.

Reagan was right. Within six months the U.S.

economy started to roll, and within a year NATO

deployed intermediate range missiles in Europe,

the turning point in the Cold War according to

Reagan’s Secretary of State, George Shultz. Rea-

gan’s policies went on to win the Cold War. Yet

one of the enduring mysteries of the man is that

he let others underestimate him and take the

credit. He had a genius for insinuating his ideas

into the minds of others and leading them to be-

lieve they had the ideas in the first place. They all

thought they were his tutors but he was instead

doing what great leaders do, persuading them to

persuade themselves to follow him.

Two personal characteristics stand out. Great

leaders have gone beyond themselves. They

don’t go into public service to find them-

selves. They have nothing to prove. They pos-

sess supreme self-confidence and do not need

to succeed in order to validate their worth or

purpose in life. They focus on what they need

to do, not what they need to become.

Second, great leaders succeed by making

other people believe that the people them-

selves are the leaders. They don’t drive their

followers; they make those followers feel

indispensable and themselves responsible for

the ideas and actions that are needed.

Ronald Reagan possessed these attributes in

spades. Three observations make the point.

I met Ronald Reagan for the first time in a

private gathering on Pennsylvania Avenue in

spring 1980. Reagan listened attentively as pol-

icy advisers gave him advice, and at the end

of the session, he looked at us and said: “I do

not want you to focus on the politics. I have

other advisers doing that. I want you to focus

on the policies we need to pursue to straighten

this country out once we move into that little

White House down the street. Then he sat back

pensively for a moment and continued with a

big grin on his face: “And if we don’t get into

that little White House down the street, who

needs it at my age?” The room broke up. It was

a great leader’s way of saying, “Look, I’m not in

this for me; I’m in this for the country.”

11

GREAT LEADERS HAVE GONE BEYOND

THEMSELVES. THEY DON’T GO

INTO PUBLIC SERVICE

TO FIND THEMSELVES.

THEY HAVE NOTHING

TO PROVE.

12

ONE OF THE HALLMARKS OF THE RONALD W. REAGAN LEADERSHIP PROGRAM

has been its tradition on mentorships with an international emphasis. In

this year alone, Fellows have traveled and worked with leaders across five

continents, including health professionals in Africa, Asia and Central America;

military, not-for-profit and business leaders in Europe and North America; as

well as educators in South America.

For many of our Fellows, the international experiences here serve as their first

opportunity to travel, explore and gain personal insight into foreign cultures.

All Fellows begin their international journey during a week-long trip near the

end of their freshman year. This group trip serves several purposes, including

a first opportunity for international travel, and for most an initial experience in

overcoming language challenges. These first-year students are given an active

role in researching and planning ground transportation, tours and the week’s

agenda. While traveling, there is a conscious effort to tie travel and educa-

tional opportunities back to campus learning. Tours and cultural events are

selected to offer new experiences in food, entertainment, as well as exposure

to arts and antiquities through museum and gallery tours. At the same time,

students are allowed ample time to explore major cities on their own in small

groups, to interact with local citizens, and to develop self-assurance and self-

reliance in their own travel abilities.

The confidence gained through this initial experience carries on to the two

funded mentorships provided through the Reagan Leadership Program. Typi-

cally, Fellows seek one of their mentorship experiences somewhere in the U.S.,

often with a leader in a field related to their academic major and career aspira-

tions. And the second mentorship is often with a leader, organization or institution

in another country. This international experience opens new doors and cultural

perspectives essential to those preparing to lead in today’s global society.

Dr. Michael Thurwanger, Director of

The Ronald W. Reagan Leadership Program

at Eureka College

PRACTICEpoints.

their experiences, the lessons learned and their applications to

leadership in general and to their personal leadership journey

specifically. Beyond personal discernment, Fellows are re-

quired to prepare and deliver formal presentations before vari-

ous groups on campus. Most recently, Reagan Fellows as well

as our Sandifer Fellows have been encouraged to create and

regularly update a personal blog to share their travels and keep

a “real time” diary to document their experiences. The leader-

ship program has begun to use this as yet another vehicle for

sharing the benefits of these international mentorships with

other Reagan Fellows as well as members of the Eureka College

community. Future plans will likely result in expanded public

access to these blog entries and presentations.

Within the Reagan Leadership Program we don’t define the

path of leadership to be followed by our Fellows, but we do

aspire to provide broad preparation that will serve them well

in their leadership journey likely to carry them across a wide

variety of challenges. The international and cross-cultural

emphasis that has been a part of the Reagan Leadership

Program from its inception is a critical component in our effort

to develop servant leaders who are prepared to make a differ-

ence on a global scale.

13

Robert Greenleaf emphasized that the role of the

effective servant leader is to “foresee the unfore-

seeable, to anticipate and embark on an informed

vision that often entails strategic risk.” For our Rea-

gan Fellows, the challenges of leadership will entail

the ability to lead effectively in the complexities

of multi-cultural organizations and global settings.

Their ability to anticipate challenges and opportu-

nities in these settings will rely on their sensitivity

to and awareness of the complexities of working in

such a diverse environment. Leaders have an ethical

responsibility to prepare themselves—developing

skills, knowledge and awareness of the environment

in which they serve. International travel and educa-

tion is critical to today’s preparation of tomorrow’s

leaders.

To confirm the critical importance of developing

this awareness and the knowledge that accompa-

nies it, we need look no further than the program’s

namesake. In his dealings with the Soviet Union and

specifically with President Gorbachev, Ronald Rea-

gan displayed a confidence in his own values and

convictions but he based that confidence on his

awareness of the culture of the Soviet countries

and the challenges faced by the people under

its rule.

On Eureka’s campus, we seek to leverage the

benefits of knowledge gained through these in-

ternational experiences by requiring Reagan Fel-

lows as well as other students fortunate enough

to benefit from international study to share their

insights and the knowledge gained from those

travels with others on campus. Reagan Fellows

are required to write a personal reflection on

The Ronald W. Reagan Leadership Program | DEVELOPING TOMORROW’S GLOBAL LEADERS > Dr. MICHAEL L. THURWANGER

FPOFellows from the class of 2014 visited NATO Headquarters

during their freshman trip to Brussels, Belgium.

During the 2011 Reagan Centennial Year,

Eureka completed the construction of the

Mark R. Shenkman Reagan Research

Center and College Archives in Melick

Library on the Eureka campus—a facility that

then Governor Reagan dedicated in 1967. The

Center will eventually house every volume ever

written about former U.S. President Ronald W.

Reagan, a 1932 graduate of Eureka College,

and issues related to Reagan’s leadership

legacy from economics to world affairs.

The generous benefactor, Mr. Shenkman, met John Morris, the Director of Development for the

Reagan Society at Eureka College, at a George Washington University event—the institution where

both Shenkman and Morris earned their degrees. Learning that Shenkman was a Reagan fan,

Morris invited Shenkman to visit campus.

“During his campus visit, Mr. Shenkman was very enthusiastic as he learned more and more

about the formative years of young “Dutch” Reagan on campus at Eureka,” said Eureka College

President J. David Arnold.

According to Eureka College’s Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations, Mike

Murtagh, Mr. Shenkman is very involved in higher education and philanthropic work. “He is a highly

successful businessman, and has a real affinity for American history, especially Ronald Reagan,

whose life story is a quintessential illustration of American opportunity,” Murtagh said.

With the Shenkman donation, the North Seminar Room of the Melick Library was transformed into

a research center that includes new carpet, wallpaper, furniture, shelving units, and media equip-

ment. A separate environmental control system was installed to help control the air temperature

and moisture to preserve the books and materials in both the Center and the Archives. “The Center

is regally designed and beautifully appointed. If a room can be viewed as art, the Center is indeed a

piece of art,” Arnold said.

Shenkman’s donation will also fund the acquisition of the vast collection of almost one-thousand

works written about Reagan and related topics. The collection of these materials will complement

the College’s existing collection of Reagan-related documents, letters, and artifacts.“Along with

the Eureka Reagan Museum and Peace Garden, the Mark R. Shenkman Reagan Research Center is

truly a world-class collegiate research facility,” Arnold said.

A public ivy-cutting dedication ceremony of the Center was held on September 24, 2011. Arnold

foresees the Center being utilized for special events and as a dedicated research space for Reagan

scholars. “On behalf of the entire College community, we are extremely grateful to Mr. and Mrs.

Shenkman for their generous gift,” Arnold said. “We all share a great sense of pride in the outcome

of this project.”

14

The Mark R. Shenkman

Reagan Research Centerat Eureka College

YOU ARE INVITED TO BECOME A MEMBER Please join hundreds of other leaders like you who value the lessons of Ronald Wilson Reagan.

Become a member of The Ronald W. Reagan Society of Eureka College and help support scholarships for

the Reagan Fellows, funding for the Reagan Museum and Peace Garden, Visiting Reagan Scholars, and the

continued study and teaching of the same leadership lessons Ronald Reagan learned from Eureka College.

Ronald W. Reagan Society benefactors and major donors receive many benefits for their annual support.

Contact John D. Morris, Director of Development

The Ronald W. Reagan Society

to learn more about the benefits of membership.

jmorris@eureka.edu, (309) 467-6477

www.reagan.eureka.edu/society

reagan.eureka.edu

15

T H E

Ronald W. ReaganSOC I E T Y

1515

300 East College Avenue | Eureka, Illinois 61530-1500

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDPeoria, IL

Permit No. 442

REAGANMidwest✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯and the

JANUARY 14–15, 2011 AT EUREKA COLLEGE

EUREKA COLLEGE PRESENTS

January 14 and 15 of 2011 saw Eureka College leading the nation with the first

conference to celebrate the Ronald W. Reagan Centennial. It was a resounding

success. The goal of the conference was to remind the nation and the world

of the importance of Ronald Reagan’s Midwestern roots.