Building the Next Generation of Leaders
You Are Made for This Moment
Inside of you is the heart of a leader. You may be impassioned and candid, or you may exude a quiet confidence. No matter your style, at Franklin & Marshall, you’ll be empowered to lead as a knowledge creator, community builder, innovator, competitor, problem-solver, and collaborator.
Every Diplomat comes to our campus bringing something unique, yet they share certain traits — curiosity, optimism, ambition, tenacity, a desire to affect meaningful change — that help them forge their paths to lives of meaning during and after college.
You’re a Diplomat if you aspire to…
Liberal Arts: A Living Laboratory for Leadership
The pace of change is accelerating across industries, sectors, and cultures.
With generative AI and other cutting-edge technological innovations poised to handle many entry-level duties, top-tier employers are increasingly seeking college graduates with the versatile skills and perspectives fostered by a liberal arts degree.
F&M is made for this moment — and you are, too.
An F&M education focuses on forming a strong foundation of the skills and tools you need to meaningfully contribute to the world as an engaged citizen. Your journey begins with a constructive dialogue course that explores key concepts from psychology scholars to explain where our differing beliefs, worldviews, and values originate, and helps you learn how to communicate and collaborate with people who hold opposing points of view.
Your journey continues throughout your time at F&M — in and out of the classroom. You’ll have your choice of opportunities to develop your abilities to communicate effectively, resolve conflict, and achieve mutual understanding – all skills in high-demand among top employers and graduate programs. You’ll hone your experiences in situational awareness and leadership, strategic thinking, consensus-building, interdisciplinary collaboration, problem-solving, conflict management, ethics, and constructive discourse.
You’ll do this in every setting, beginning on Day 1 with your first-year Connections Course, which gives you immediate access to F&M’s world-renowned faculty and teaches you how to connect ideas across disciplines and apply them to real-world problems and career paths — a hallmark of your entire four-year experience at F&M.
“That is what the liberal arts does. It creates leaders.”
— President Andrew Rich
Are you ready to learn more about a community that’s enthusiastically setting new standards for leadership?
Discover how F&M is building and nurturing critical leadership traits in students like you — students who represent every point of view, every background, every perspective, and every capacity to make change.
Franklin & Marshall Leadership Fellows
Franklin & Marshall Fellows are purpose-driven communities of 16 like-minded students who exemplify F&M’s commitment to meaningful impact through leadership, innovation, and problem-solving. There are four distinctive fellowship programs for students who are curious, motivated, and eager to make a positive and immediate impact in the fields of climate and sustainability, creative writing, entrepreneurship, and public service.
Diplomat Leadership Program
The Diplomat Leadership Program aims to shape and inspire the next generation of student leaders. If you’re selected, you’ll embark on a comprehensive, four-year examination of what it means to be a leader, community member, and force of change in the world.
Leadership & Performance Lab at F&M
The Leadership & Performance Lab at F&M equips you with essential skills in leadership, entrepreneurship, high performance and civic engagement. As a fellow, you’ll benefit from focused mentorship and professional development programs, including opportunities to connect with leaders in the Lancaster community, F&M’s 30,000-strong alumni network, and experts in the arenas of growth mindset and performance optimization.
Leadership Through Real-World Learning
Your most valuable leadership skills are forged in action. F&M’s emphasis on immersive, hands-on learning — including research, internships, volunteering, and off-campus study — empowers you to practice and build up leadership skills in real-world settings. You’ll learn to collaborate effectively with individuals and communities from varying backgrounds, nurturing your ability to bridge differences and drive collective success.
Peer Leadership Opportunities
Student leadership is woven into the fabric of your day-to-day life at F&M. Opportunities to step up are readily accessible, spanning clubs and organizations, academic tutoring, fraternity and sorority life, athletics, and student government. Each first-year College House has its own student-led government, and there are also governing boards for each class — first-years, sophomores, juniors and seniors — as well as four College-wide governing boards led by students of all class years.
Student Athlete Leadership Council
The Student-Athlete Leadership Council (SALC) is a collective of approximately 100 student-athlete representatives dedicated to achieving excellence in academics and competition. SALC may appeal to you if you enjoy collaborating with and empowering your peers to create meaningful change in the F&M and Lancaster communities.
An F&M liberal arts education focuses on forming a strong foundation of the skills
and tools you need to meaningfully contribute to the world as an engaged citizen and
informed, effective leader. Step on campus and find your home. Visiting F&M is the best way to get a feel for
day-to-day life on campus and to visualize yourself as a member of our curious, collaborative
and close-knit community. Learn with purpose. Lead with impact. Apply to F&M and take your first step toward
an educational journey that’s distinctive to you.“Being a leader isn't about having a flashy title or checking off a box for your resume.
Sometimes it means stepping into roles that feel unexpected. Sometimes it means failing
and then figuring out how to try again.”
— Caroline Riegel ’26, President of Diplomatic Congress“I firmly believe that in order to be an effective leader who serves the greater good,
one must be open to different viewpoints, ideas, and beliefs. Specifically, leaders
must be able to listen and have thoughtful discussions with the community or communities
they are attempting to lead.”
Take the Next Step
Explore the Liberal Arts at F&M
Visit F&M
Apply to F&M