I learned a great deal about leadership during my years at Willamette University. Professor Kent Markus taught me about great and not-so-great leaders of the past. Professor Sue Leeson offered insight into the leaders of the present. And the unforgettable Professor Howard Runkel provided the communication skills needed by anyone hoping to lead. Truth be told, however, the individual who has provided me with the most memorable lessons in leadership is former United States Senator Bob Dole, for whom I had the privilege of working for nearly six years.

Senator Dole taught me that good leaders understand the art of compromise and that victory need not be total. He was fond of quoting the great Senator Everett Dirksen, who said, “I am a man of fixed and unbending principles — and one of my principles is flexibility.”

Senator Dole was flexible. He was able to reach across party lines. And because of that, his fingerprints can be found on countless pieces of landmark legislation, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and the creation of the food stamp program.

Through his wit and his ability to deliver a oneliner that would break up a tense meeting and get previously warring negotiators moving in the right direction, Senator Dole also taught me that good leaders not only need good backbones, they need good funny bones. Several years ago I assisted Senator Dole in the writing of Great Presidential Wit — I Wish I Was in This Book. The book is a collection of jokes and anecdotes told by our presidents, and we offer the first-ever ranking of presidents by their sense of humor. We thought it was very insightful that the presidents we ranked as the funniest — Lincoln, Reagan, the two Roosevelts — are also presidents that historians have ranked as some of our most successful. And presidents that we ranked as the biggest “sticks in the mud” — Fillmore, Benjamin Harrison, Pierce, Buchanan — are presidents that historians have ranked as least successful.

In one unforgettable incident, Senator Dole also demonstrated to me that the best leaders are the ones who translate into action the words of Willamette’s motto, “Not unto ourselves alone are we born.” In December 1995 then-President Clinton asked Congress for the authority to send American troops to Bosnia. Public opinion surveys left no doubt that the overwhelming majority of Americans were against the president’s request. More important for Senator Dole, surveys also revealed that New Hampshire Republicans were even more united in their opposition. The president’s request came just a few months before the New Hampshire Presidential Primary — the first test of those Republicans who, like Senator Dole, were running for their party’s nomination.

Political and campaign advisors streamed into Senator Dole’s office, unanimous in their recommendation that the senator should lead the fight against the president’s proposal, and, in doing so, would likely win the critical New Hampshire primary. They were forgetting, however, that, first and foremost, Senator Dole was and is a patriot. His statement said it all: “America can only have one commander in chief at a time. Like it or not, Bill Clinton is my commander in chief. My duty is to support him.”

His decision to support the president’s proposal ensured its passage, and it also ensured his defeat in the New Hampshire primary. The senator would later rebound to win his party’s nomination, but the bottom line is that he understood his duty as a leader was to put America’s best interests above his own political interests. “Not unto ourselves alone are we born,” indeed.

Kerry Tymchuk ’81, JD’84, is a University trustee and currently serves as state director for United States Senator Gordon Smith. He previously worked for both Bob and Elizabeth Dole, and has assisted them in writing five books. He recently assisted Columbia Sportswear Chair Gert Boyle in writing her autobiography, One Tough Mother.

When reflecting on my education at Willamette, I think about the attributes and qualities of the Willamette experience that foster a wide range of leaders. The Willamette community cultivates leaders by putting in place the essential ingredients for leadership: an ethos of service, an emphasis on both academics and co-curricular activities, and a supportive environment that encourages students to take risks and supports their endeavors.

The starting point for leadership at Willamette is the motto: “Not unto ourselves alone are we born.” The motto reflects the University’s commitment to the broader community. To that end, Willamette creates an ethos of service through which students confront their responsibility to use their talents and privilege to help others. Service is not an afterthought, but rather a central tenant of a Willamette education.

Willamette cultivates leadership by integrating the curricular and co-curricular experience. The liberal arts education helps students to better understand their connection to the world around them, and faculty challenge students to think critically. I clearly remember my first class in the politics department as a freshman. It was a political theory class where we read several classic works of political philosophy. The readings and class discussions inspired me to take intellectual risks by challenging my assumptions about the world and my role in it. Academics at Willamette also develop two very important leadership skills: written and oral communication. Leaders can only be effective if they can communicate their message to others.

Willamette compliments the classroom experience with a powerful co-curricular program. You would be hard pressed to find a student at Willamette who is not involved in some organization or activity, many of which help them develop as leaders. Whether in on-campus activities such as student government or off-campus activities such as volunteering at a local school, students not only contribute to their community, but gain important skills — how to work in groups, how to resolve conflicts, how to motivate others — that prepare them for leadership beyond college.

Finally, Willamette creates an environment that supports students in the personal development and maturation essential to leadership. I still remember one of the first service-related activities I undertook at Willamette. At the conclusion of my freshman year, I wanted students to use money left on their meal plans to buy extra food at Goudy Commons to donate to a local hunger relief organization. I anticipated the potential loss to the University and expected University officials to greet my plan with skepticism. Perhaps some did privately, but this sentiment was never communicated to me. Everyone was supportive in making sure I had thought of everything to make the food drive a success. I believe this formative experience early in my Willamette career opened the door for me to consider future leadership and service activities.

This culture of encouraging personal development is present at all levels of the University. Faculty, staff, administrators, deans and the president himself all take an interest in students and help them develop as leaders. Not only did these people work with me in an official capacity as a student leader, but they also took a personal interest in me. They were counselors and confidants who helped me and many other students continue to grow, develop and thrive as people and as leaders.

Erik Van Hagen ’00 was twice elected president of the Associated Students of Willamette University and was a Truman Scholar in 1999. He will graduate from the University of Washington Law School this spring, and has just accepted a position for next fall with Miller Nash LLP in Portland.

I graduated from Willamette University in May 2004, magna cum laude and a member of Phi Beta Kappa since my junior year. Now I work in the alternative education department of my hometown high school, the same high school I graduated from almost six years ago in small, rural Baker City in northeastern Oregon.

I will admit that when I took this job, I felt some twinges of inadequacy. After all, I was class treasurer and vice president of the honor society in high school. I was secretary of Baxter Hall my sophomore year and president of WISH Hall my senior year. I was even inducted into the National Residence Hall Honorary by the Willamette chapter. I helped to make things happen at Willamette, a community of leaders. WU graduates go on to do successful, brilliant things. So many of my peers are working on their master’s degrees or already have their master’s and are working on their PhDs. Others have started law school, worked for political campaigns or accepted key positions with upward mobility in companies and corporations. They have moved to the big city and are poised to join the next great leaders in American business, law and politics. I am just an aide at a high school. I’m not even a real teacher yet. I’m in the same small town where I grew up, which is not very challenging. What have I done?

It would be easy to compare myself to others and feel that I haven’t utilized my intelligence and leadership skills to their utmost potential. But I don’t look at it that way. To me, leadership comes in the small, quiet moments. Last fall I had the chance to travel to Hong Kong to volunteer for an NGO that fights for migrant workers’ rights. The work we did wasn’t glamorous or even successful most of the time, but it was the right thing to do, and we were dedicated to supporting each other and the ones we were there to help, regardless of the outcome. I try to carry the same philosophy into my classroom.

I don’t need to have the most highly paid job or the most impressive resume to prove to myself that I’m a good leader. I don’t need to be the most ambitious to have an impact on society. If I can listen to students and encourage them and be on their side, then I have impacted society. If I can use gentle conversations and patience to get them to understand lessons and make connections, then I am preparing them to be conscientious adults. I don’t consider myself aggressive, but that doesn’t mean I’m not ambitious. I aim to be a superb social studies teacher someday. I may even get a PhD. And I hope to achieve this with patience and cooperation and humility. I still have a lot to learn about the art of teaching if I’m to be successful at it. Education is not a glamorous career, but it is a crucial job. While my peers are out taking over the business world and enacting public policy, my work will be quieter but no less significant.

Willamette gave me several chances to travel overseas. I currently supervise about 20 World Geography students. When they study different areas of the world, I can say to them, “Oh, I’ve been there. This is what it was like. Maybe someday you can visit there, too.” I can say, “You know, I lived with a group of Muslim women during Ramadan last year, and this is what I learned …” I can say, “When I lived in Ecuador, it was like this …” My students know that I grew up in Baker City like they did, and they know I’m not much older than they are, and they can see that it’s possible to experience the world even when you come from a small, isolated place. If I could get out and have these experiences, maybe they can, too, and I can give them advice on how to make that happen. The conversations that my travels have spurred about what is possible in their futures might do more to motivate them than a lecture by the principle or the guidance counselor, the official “leaders” of the school.

I hope that I am leading them to make other smaller but still important decisions as well. I have a policy in my classroom that it is not okay to say “what a fag” or “that’s so gay.” This is common parlance now among teenagers, but not in my room. I tell them they have a right to their opinions, but they never know whom their words might be hurting, so they must be respectful even if they disagree. They seem shocked at first when I correct them, but they’ve learned to think before speaking.

Leadership is in the small things — the words you choose to use and the actions and behaviors you reward versus those you try to change for the better. I truly believe good leadership is subtle and humble, and that it is just as important for leaders to stay connected to their roots and to be good examples for the next generation as it is for them to go out and conquer the world. That’s the spirit of leadership I learned at Willamette.

Melissa Wheeler ’04 served last fall in The United Methodist Church’s Global Justice Volunteers program, living in Hong Kong and working to advance migrant workers’ rights. She now runs the computer lab at Baker High School and helps social studies and math students make up credits they have failed. She is planning to pursue a master’s program next summer to become a certified social studies and Spanish teacher.