The Garfield Center for Public Leadership
The Garfield Center for Public Leadership prepares students to assume the responsibilities of public leadership by developing expertise in matters of public policy, foreign and domestic, grounded in Hiram’s traditional liberal arts education.
Image: Garfield Center for Public Leadership
Our Mission
The Garfield Center for Public Leadership (GCPL) prepares Hiram students to be proactively engaged citizens, by providing them with the theoretical grounding, the necessary data, and the essential skills for engaging in effective leadership on behalf of public policy making. This preparation takes place via in-class discussions of great works of political theory, via research which students conduct relating to specific policy topics, and via a variety of experiential learning opportunities. These experiential opportunities include: seminars (both at Hiram and in Washington, D.C.) on pressing topics of US policy making, featuring influential figures from politics, business, and academia; crisis simulation exercises, in which students assume the roles of countries or other organizations responding to a geostrategic crisis; and trips to foreign countries, during which students interact with leaders in those countries.
The Program’s Elements
The Garfield Center hosts a variety of events throughout the year in an effort to promote civil discourse and provide the Garfield Scholars an opportunity to engage in unique educational experiences. These include seminars and crisis simulations focused on relevant political topics, as well as one international trip each year.
