SOL is an intensive 12-month leadership program for Duke undergraduates that combines academic study, research service learning, mentoring, and leadership training.
SOL is a nationally recognized, intensive 12-month leadership program for students who are interested in complex social and political issues and the art of implementing systemic political change. SOL’s three-stage structure includes a preparation (gateway) course in the spring, a collaboratively designed research (CBR) project with a political organization in the summer, and a follow-up (capstone) seminar in the fall. Throughout, students participate in a structured process of critical reflection on the ethical, intellectual and personal aspects of their political engagement project.
One of the best embodiments of the lifelong leadership learning within SOL is manifest in the life of Hart alumna Kathy Tran, who became the first Asian American elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 2017. Born in Viet Nam, Kathy came to the United States as a child refugee at the age of two, before growing up in Virginia and eventually graduating from Duke University in 2000. She is married to Matthew Reisman, also a Hart Fellow and SOL alumnus who pioneered some of the very first research service learning classes at Duke or anywhere in the United States.
Sixteen Duke undergraduate students are working on their summer projects with community partners through Service Opportunities in Leadership (SOL), a signature component of the Hart Leadership Program.
Every year, SOL students tackle complex social issues in communities around the world. Read about the 2017 SOL students and learn more about their research here.
"To come out of the comfort zone of doing all the things that you know how to do and that you're trained to do and instead go out into people's lives and ask real questions was terrifying. But it was also incredibly transformative."
"It starts by realizing when you’re stuck, and not being afraid to recognize that—then to work with those around you and to look within yourself to try and find solutions."