Written by Faizan Shakir

Several annual leadership programs hosted by HBKU, like LeaderShape, will be undergoing major changes next semester.   

MAERSK Oil, corporate sponsor for the leadership development programs withdrew, discontinuing its share of the programs. We are Leaders @ Kilimanjaro merged with the Desert Challenge and became We Are Leaders @ Qatar; the location has shifted from Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, to the Zekreet desert in Qatar.

“Kilimanjaro, because of its high cost and low number of students participating, could only happen if we got corporate sponsorship. This year, that option wasn’t available,” said Evan Witt, programs and campus life coordinator for HBKU Student Center.

“The desert challenge came at a high cost. We didn’t have enough students participating,” he said.

MAERSK Oil’s withdrawal has also impacted the LeaderShape program. Previously, students would stay at a beach resort in Al Khor during spring break and participate in a myriad of leadership activities. Participants will now be housed in Majlis Al Janoubi (male housing) in Education City in the summer, likely May 7 to 12. Applications open in the spring.

Each of these programs is organized by two out of 12 students, who are a part of the Leadership Council established within EBDA, the leadership development program at HBKU Student Center. 

Members in the Leadership Council are meeting these changes positively.

“I don’t think the changes will drastically change leadership development programs in EC” said Ahwaz Akhtar, Leadership Council member and program coordinator for this year’s WALQ (formerly WALK).

He said that while the form of the programs might have changed, the spirit still remains the same.

Some students are hoping these changes will make the leadership programs more sustainable in the long run.

“I think this program (WALQ) should have started with that, instead of Kilimanjaro,” said Alya Al Harthy, senior at NU-Q. “It builds a home based movement for hiking within the region, with something that is less indulgent and hopefully accessible to a larger group of people.”

Others, however, have found it hard to come to terms with the changes.

Valerie Garcia, senior at CMU-Q participated in WALK last year and thinks the location change will definitely change the experience for people who do the program this year.

“Climbing Kilimanjaro was a once in a lifetime experience for me and the fact that I had one shot to make it happen made me push myself harder,” she said, “I’m not sure if any other leadership development program could replicate the self growth I have experienced.”

Abdullah Darwish, freshman at CMU-Q does not think that such a change should have been brought about.

“I’m positive it would teach us leadership skills and teamwork etc. It would teach us partly, partly, the things that we would have been able to learn at Kilimanjaro” said Darwish. “But to be honest, as a Qatari, Kilimanjaro seemed much more of a challenge to me than WALQ.”

Witt, however, is optimistic about having LeaderShape in Doha as opposed to Al Khor.

“For every student who said they wanted to go because it’s in Al Khor, there were just as many students, if not more, who said they couldn’t go because it was in Al Khor,” he said.

Some local students were sometimes not able to go because their families didn’t want them staying at the resort overnight for seven days, he said.

Whether these changes will increase or decrease the number of students applying for the programs will only be seen once applications open.