The Emerging Leader Program: Leaders for Others

Since its inception in 1988, the Emerging Leader Program (ELP) has established itself as a premier leadership development program for first year students at Boston College. Each year, a select cohort of students participates in this yearlong experience designed to cultivate leadership skills, foster meaningful relationships, and inspire a lifelong commitment to service and social responsibility. Rooted in the Social Change Model of Leadership Development and deeply informed by the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm, ELP seeks to form leaders for others who are equipped to create meaningful, positive change within the Boston College community and beyond.

The ELP curriculum emphasizes the integration of context, experience, reflection, and action, encouraging students to explore their identities, values, and responsibilities as emerging leaders. Through weekly meetings, intentional reflection, large and small group discussions, experiential learning opportunities, mentorship, and community engagement, students develop the knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary to lead with empathy, integrity, and purpose. Weekly community service is a cornerstone of the program, providing students with opportunities to put their leadership into action, engage meaningfully with the broader community, and deepen their understanding of social justice and the common good. By integrating leadership formation, service, and Ignatian reflection, ELP empowers students to become thoughtful, compassionate, and socially responsible leaders who embody Boston College's Jesuit mission throughout their collegiate experience and beyond.

ELP Cohorts

2026-2027 ELP Cohort

ELP Facilitators

Emerging Leaders Program Facilitators play an important role in supporting the leadership development of first year students while also guiding them through their transition into the Boston College community. Through regular engagement, discussion, and mentorship, facilitators help students explore their values, build confidence in their leadership abilities, and better understand how leadership can be practiced in everyday campus life. Facilitators cultivate meaningful mentoring relationships that encourage reflection, personal growth, and connection with peers. By creating a supportive environment for dialogue and learning, they help first year students develop the skills, awareness, and sense of responsibility needed to become leaders who contribute positively to the Boston College community and lead in service of others.

ELP Facilitators

Lexie Crist

Lexie Crist

CSOM & MCAS ‘29
Hometown: Tacoma, WA
Leah Cuyler

Leah Cuyler

LSEHD ‘29
Hometown: Avon, CT
Danny Flanagan

Danny Flanagan

MCAS ‘29
Hometown: Southbury, CT
Catherine Hulugalle

Catherine Hulugalle

CSOM ‘29
Hometown: Waimea, Hawai'i
Sofia Lulo

Sofia Lulo

CSOM ‘29
Hometown: Santiago, Dominican Republic
Giacomo Pili

Giacomo Pili

MCAS ‘29
Hometown: Buffalo, NY
Charlie Shifrin

Charlie Shifrin

MCAS ‘29
Hometown: Southborough, MA
Emmett Tolisano

Emmett Tolisano

CSOM ‘29
Hometown: Fairfield, CT
Stephanie Venturini

Stephanie Venturini

LSEHD & MCAS ‘29
Hometown: Milan, Italy
Luke Wagner

Luke Wagner

MCAS ‘29
Hometown: Farmington, CT
Lauren Weideman

Lauren Weideman

MCAS ‘29
Hometown: Sacramento, CA
Ryan Zuccarello

Ryan Zuccarello

MCAS ‘29
Hometown: Whitestone, NY

The Kevin M. Eidt Memorial Scholarship

The Kevin M. Eidt Memorial Scholarship is awarded annually to the freshman in the Emerging Leader Program whose leadership skills and potential are best represented by Boston College’s philosophies of “Ever to Excel” and being “Men and Women for Others.”

The scholarship recipient is selected by the director of the Emerging Leader Program and announced each year, at the end-of-the-year ELP banquet.

Kevin M. Eidt was a member of the Boston College class of 2000. A freshman in the Emerging Leader Program, Kevin died of cardiac arrest during an intramural basketball game in the second semester of his freshman year. In recognition of the tremendous impact he made on the Boston College community in such a short time, Kevin was posthumously awarded the Nicholas H. Woods Leadership Award, sponsored by the Office of Student Development. 

In addition, the Liturgical Arts Group dedicated their "I Want to Praise Your Name" CD to Kevin and the men and women's intramural basketball championship trophy is named in his honor. This scholarship was created as a legacy to a young man who, in one semester, made a positive impact on the BC community, lived the motto "Ever to Excel" and approached every day with the exuberance and determination to live life to its fullest.

The scholarship is funded by the Kevin Eidt Fund at Boston College, which is supported by alumni contributions and grants from the Kevin M. Eidt Memorial Scholarship Fund; a 501(c)(3) publicly supported charitable organization.

2026 Award Recipient

Mary Marsalek

Mary Marsalek

Hometown: Arroyo Grande, CA

Past scholarship recipients

2025 | Daniel Hannoush (Loudonville, NY)

2024 | Allison Berg (Tacoma, WA)

2023 | Brody Whetzel (Salem, OR)

2022 | Aidan Mackey | (West Oneonta, NY)

2021 | Lauren Dadekian | (Upper Saddle River, NJ)

2020 | Audrey Davis | (Fanwood, NJ)

2019 | Henry Bayly | (Fort Myers, FL)

2018 | Fatoumata Sall | (New York, NY)

2018 | Noella D'Souza | (Sharon, MA) Facilitator Award

2017 | Joan Kennedy | (San Antonio, TX)

2016 | Kandace Nguyen | (Morrero, LA)

2015 | Noah Groenewold | (Hinsdale, IL)

2014 | Alec Ellis | (Winter Park, FL)2013 | Christopher Klotsche | (Milwaukee, WI)


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