Hart Leadership Program

Founded in 1986 with a generous gift from Milledge A. Hart III and his family, HLP was the first endowed leadership program for undergraduates in the United States. Since then, thousands of Duke undergraduate students have participated in HLP courses or experiential programs.

HLP uses a four-pronged approach:

• Courses give students analytical frameworks for grappling with the problems facing our global community.
• Immersion experiences outside the classroom help students see how policy works in the real world.
• Writing and discussion challenge students to reflect critically on their experiences and make sense of them.
• One-on-one mentoring helps students develop the skills, confidence and motivation to translate their learning into action.

The Hart Leadership Program offers 5-8 courses each semester, serving an average of 200 Duke undergraduate students a year. Around 50 students participate in HLP’s experiential-learning programs every year, which include:

• Service Opportunities in Leadership: An intensive 12-month leadership program for Duke undergraduates that combines academic study, research service-learning, mentoring and leadership training.
• The Hart Fellows Program offers recent university graduates a 10-month fellowship with innovative organizations domestically and abroad. A competitive application process takes place each spring. Since its inception in 1995, more than 100 fellows have worked in 40 countries.
• The Political Engagement Project is a leadership initiative for public policy majors interested in politics and includes coursework, support for summer internships, and mentoring.