A student stands in the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate and speaks into a microphone.

Building a civic toolkit

Clinton fellows spent time at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.
Image credit: Joel Haskell

Sophomores are encouraged to forge new paths of collaboration during Civic Action Lab

Author  Photos by Joel Haskell
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The Clinton Fellows sophomore experience kicked off with the Civic Action Lab in August prior to the start of the fall semester. With the theme Knowledge is Power, 110 participants took part in team-building exercises, learned about constructive dialogue, discussed leadership and community building, and heard from civic thought leaders and artists, including Max Klau and Janet Echelman.

A view from above looking down on the students seated in senate seating.
Students heard from speakers like leadership coach Max Klau, who talked to the students about how best to navigate the world while understanding the dark and light parts of themselves.
Students stand in the senate and raise their right hands.
Civic Action Lab students participated in a simulated senate session in the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. They were split into republicans and democrats and negotiated a bill.
  • Three students sit at a table focused on writing.
    While at Cathleen Stone Island, students learned what kind of civic innovator they were, and participated in constructive dialogue conversations.
  • A student balances on a rope while holding on to a rope and looking up. Other students surround her, ready to give her a hand if she looses her balance.
    The students worked with Outward Bound to complete team-building exercises.
  • A room full of seated students listen to a presenter at a lectern.
    On day three, students participated in activities on Wellesley’s campus, including conversations around reimagining what’s possible and amplifying unheard voices. Here they listen to Megan Burke, who oversees a company called Cuerd@s. The company creates embroidered clothing that helps with self-soothing and grounding.
  • A student smiles while watching looking at something off camera.
  • Students sit on the grass i pairs and talk
    Students broke off into pairs to discuss issues important to them. Afterward, they come back together as a group to continue the conversation.
  • A musician dressed in white and wearing a hat shows students the balafon, a type of xylophone.
    Balla Kouyaté (left) shows students the underside of a balafon, a type of xylophone with centuries-old roots in West Africa. He performed during the Civic Action Lab, along with Shaw Pong Liu. Both are musicians from the Silk Road Ensemble.
Students wrap colorful knitted squares around a tree on the quad.
Students tie yarn pieces to trees on the academic quad. Attached to the pieces are their hopes for the future or something they would like to accomplish while at Wellesley.