By Emily Glory Peters
On a warm April afternoon, Wednesday Tea in Seal Court buzzed with excitement as the Scripps community celebrated a milestone: the 10th anniversary of the Collegeās Laspa Center for Leadership.
Founded in 2015 through a $5 million gift from former Trustee Eileen Schock Laspa ā67, Pā95, GPā17 and her husband, Jude Laspa HMC ā65, Pā95, GPā17, the center has grown into a vital campus resource helping students build their capacity to enact change.
There are many ways to define leadership, but the Laspa Centerās model departs from standard notions of hierarchy to envision leadership as a central radiating force: collaborative and rooted in shared accountability.
āāTop-downā leadership has value in settings where itās imperative to make immediate decisions through a chain of command,ā reflects Gretchen Maldonado, director of the Laspa Center. āA more inclusive picture puts the leader toward the middle to incorporate the voices and needs of others.ā
The Laspa Centerās programming has evolved in kind since 2015. Impacted by the deepened isolation, partisan gridlock, and one-sided algorithm bubbles of the pandemic, students struggled to communicate across their differences.
In response, the Laspa Center zeroed in on helping students strengthen six competencies: social skills, empathy, mindfulness, organizational dynamics, effective management, and strategic thinkingāwith authenticity as a secret seventh ingredient.
A transformational program launched in 2020 is the Laspa Fellowship: a semester-long leadership development experience that forges lasting relationships between fellows and the center. As of this spring, 83 students have served as Laspa Fellows. The Civic Engagement Initiativeāa nonpartisan effort to involve students in the electoral processāis also going on five years as an effective student leadership enterprise. To date, Scrippsā voting rate consistently outpaces the national voting average for college students.
āI love seeing the Scripps community unite in our shared value of being politically engaged and informed,ā says Blake Weld ā26, who co-led campus outreach this year. āIām proud we encouraged so many people to express their beliefs and values through their vote.ā
Yet signature resources remain strong. Since its founding, the Laspa Center has awarded nearly $200,000 to more than 120 recipients of We Act Grants, Leadership Development Awards, and Service Leadership Awards to help students actively benefit communities. Leadership Immersion Treks, funded by the College and donations from the Scripps community, have also taken over 80 students to national conferences to learn from women innovators in business, policymaking, and nonprofit work.
āAs an economics majorāa field historically dominated by menāIāve used my leadership skills and networking to grow my confidence,ā says Riya Hariharan ā25 of her trek experience. āThe Laspa Center has helped me do that.ā
Disparities indeed persist worldwide. Women and genderdiverse leaders, especially from historically excluded backgrounds, remain underrepresented in most industries. Pay gaps are still too wide and senior leadership promotion opportunities are too few.
Still, the last decade has brought tangible momentum. According to 2015ā2024 data from the PEW Research Center, women steering Fortune 500 companies has more than doubled and the number serving on boards has increased by 50 percent. In 2023, the American Council on Education reported that one in three college presidents are women, and a 2024 study from the Congressional Research Service noted that women now occupy more political offices worldwide than ever before.
For many of these leaders, their path from aspiring changemakers to paladins of progress started at college. At Scripps, the Laspa Center is that mediator between classroom and community, nurturing new leaders who know that building bridges is as valuable as breaking new ground. Itās a fitting mindset for the next decade.
āScrippsā community is unique. We exist in an environment of rare beauty, yet have the grit to do what is hard and necessary while holding opposing views. That shared purpose, drive for excellence, and respect for learning make us strong,ā says Maldonado. āAnd from strong places come great leaders.ā