of Summers Years 50
50 Years of Summers
50 YEARS OF SUMMERS The Morehead-Cain Summer Enrichment Program
FIRST SUMMER New Challenges and Learning to Lead
SECOND SUMMER For the Public Good
THIRD SUMMER Into a Professional Space
FOURTH SUMMER A Move Toward the World
Truly Inspired, Practically Grounded
Prologue
We created this book to celebrate 50 years of the Morehead-Cain Summer Enrichment Program. Over five decades, Morehead-Cain summers—spent trekking the wilderness, engaged in public service, building professional skills, and exploring the world—have shaped leaders, created lasting bonds, and propelled alumni toward careers and lives of purpose.
Morehead-Cain summers are formative moments of discovery and growth. Scholars push their limits, learning through stretch and discomfort. But summers have not only shaped individual learning. They have powered a connected community of scholars and alumni across decades through shared experiences.
I discovered the magic of Morehead-Cain through its summers. Steve Toben ’78 introduced me to Morehead-Cain in 2009. It was not just a scholarship for study, he said, but an invitation to a series of summer enrichment experiences that fostered intense personal development. When my former student Michael Kayemba ’14 became the first Morehead-Cain Scholar from African Leadership Academy, I saw firsthand how summer experiences developed scholars into greater, more purposeful versions of themselves. Soon, I was hosting Morehead-Cain Scholars for the summer in South Africa. I could see that their summer experiences supported leadership development and fostered new understandings of the world that would soon enrich the classroom environment in Chapel Hill.
My observation of summer enrichment helped me recognize that Morehead-Cain was creating an experience of college as it should be for its scholars. For the past four years, I have had the joy of sup-
porting summer enrichment programming for our next generation of scholars and leaders. I enthusiastically look forward to the next 50 years of transformational summer experiences.
Morehead-Cain’s 50 years of summers have been indelibly shaped by the leadership and dedication of Megan Mazzocchi. Megan’s vision has informed the design of our summer programming. Her commitment to connecting scholars and alumni has ignited new summer opportunities. Her grace and calm under pressure have helped many a scholar get out of a bind, and her wisdom has helped scholars manage difficult moments away from campus. As Megan prepares for the next step in her leadership journey, we honor the enduring legacy she leaves at Morehead-Cain.
Megan, this book is dedicated to you. Thank you for all you have done to support and inspire our scholars. We hope that you and your husband Jay will enjoy a well-earned “global perspective” summer of your own in 2025, with the full support of the Foundation. We can’t wait to hear all about it.
To our alumni: thank you for using summer enrichment programming to shape your aspirations and create positive change. The impact of Morehead-Cain extends far beyond Chapel Hill and reflects the leaders you have become.
Morehead-Cain’s work to identify, invest in, and empower future leaders continues. We look forward to the ways in which the next generation of scholars will use transformational summer experiences to build upon the legacy of the past 50 years.
With gratitude and enthusiasm,
Chris Bradford President, Morehead-Cain Foundation
50 Years of Summers
THE MOREHEAD-CAIN SUMMER ENRICHMENT PROGRAM
Instituted in 1974, this first-of-its-kind program is a defining feature of the Morehead-Cain undergraduate experience, comprising four multi-week, fully funded summer placements that are intentionally designed to broaden perspectives, deepen understanding, enhance professional and leadership skills, and accelerate life experience.
The brainchild of Alan T. Dickson—who served on the Morehead Foundation’s board of trustees beginning in 1964 and was its chair from 1985 until his retirement in 2006—the Morehead-Cain Foundation’s Summer Enrichment Program (SEP) began with an experimental summer involving a select number of scholars. The purpose of the new program was to supplement the scholars’ classroom experience at UNC with experiential learning and leadership training through several weeks of structured work and study during the summer in carefully selected settings across the United States. In June and July 1974, ten scholars from the entering freshman class were sent to Outward Bound schools in Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, and Texas, and ten scholars from the rising sophomore class interned at public safety departments in Cleveland; Kansas City; Los Angeles; Menlo Park, California; Minneapolis; and Washington, D.C. Other scholars attended the seminars of the Presidential Classroom for Young Americans in Washington, D.C., and the Center for the Study of Human Values at Tanglewood, North Carolina.
In light of the success of that first summer, the Foundation expanded the program to include courses with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and the American Sailing Education Association (aboard ship in the Atlantic); additional public safety placements in Charlotte, Dallas, and Winston-Salem; and internships in a handful of private companies.
The Summer Enrichment Program would continue to grow and would soon become a hallmark of the Morehead-Cain Program, spanning scholars’ years at UNC from the summer before they arrived in Chapel Hill to their final summer as undergraduates preceding their senior year. By 1976, the first international internship had been established, as a group of scholars spent a portion of their summer working in the British Parliament in London. The next year, innovative rising seniors initiated a program of special internships in the fourth summer in addition to the government internships that were already in place. From 1978 to 1984, a fifth summer of participation in the program existed, giving scholars the chance to employ all the skills and knowledge they had acquired throughout their classroom and summer endeavors in one post-graduation Travel/Study experience—a unique culmination of their academic, career, and personal interests and achievements.
Over time, the Summer Enrichment Program has evolved primarily into four distinct summer experiences—an outdoor leadership course, a civic or public service experience, a professional summer, and an extended global travel opportunity. The Foundation has continued to modify and expand these summers as scholars have discovered and pursued diverse interests and goals and as new cultural, technological, and professional horizons have emerged.
First Summer
NEW CHALLENGES AND LEARNING TO LEAD
The idea was to provide these young people with a three-to-four-week experience where they’re physically challenged, they find out about themselves, they learn about interdependency—all these things. Some of it is just sitting in nature and reflecting and finding yourself, and some of it is scaling a cliff, where you’re depending on somebody you’ve never known before. . . We thought, what a way to take privileged kids or kids from different backgrounds and put them together before they ever get to UNC, where they learn about the differences in people and they don’t have that hurdle to overcome during their first weeks on campus.
—Alan Dickson
The Outdoor Leadership (OL) summer, a consistent part of the Summer Enrichment Program from the beginning, offers scholars the opportunity to increase their self-awareness, develop their leadership style, and ease their transition to college life. Undertaken between scholars’ senior year of high school and their first year at Carolina, the OL summer has been, for many scholars, a rite of passage—an intense “stretch experience” in their young lives that they will share and reflect upon with fellow scholars for years to come. It is also a springboard to their future summer enrichment choices and a time to pause and reflect before embarking upon the many rich college and Morehead-Cain experiences that lie ahead.
Traditionally, the OL program has required incoming freshman scholars to independently select and participate in one of more than fifty courses offered by Outward Bound or the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). Strategically designed to challenge participants—mentally, emotionally, and physically—each three- to four-week course provides an experience that is as unforgettable as it is invaluable. The goal is to test and overcome limits, foster self-possession through self-reliance and self-reflection, and promote confidence and the maturity necessary to buttress the demands of responsible leadership.
Until 2020, scholars had attended their OL courses either solo or in pairs, joining other (non-scholar) participants from across the country and the world. That year, the Foundation offered the opportunity for a group of scholars to complete a custom NOLS course together—in a team composed entirely of rising first-year Morehead-Cain Scholars. The course would be similar to other NOLS courses, but the dynamic of working with a cohort of scholar peers would provide an added opportunity to hone collaboration skills.
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic thwarted those plans, but in the summers of 2021 and 2022, the all-scholar course was reestablished, and by the summer of 2023, all of the Morehead-Cain OL courses were custom Outward Bound or NOLS courses made up of scholar participants only. Sixty-three scholars participated in the summer of 2024 in six OL courses around the world, including Outward Bound Rafting and Mountaineering in Oregon, NOLS Rocky Mountain Backpacking in Wyoming, and Outward Bound Sailing and Rock Climbing in Maine.
To spend time in the Three Sisters Wilderness area in early June is to become familiar with snow in spring. It’s beginning an evening by building your campfire on top of the snow and watching as it melts itself deep into a pit. It’s pulling everything out of your pack to put it between you and the frozen ground to stay warm while you sleep. It’s waking up in the morning with your tarp in your face because it’s weighed down with six inches of fluffy precipitation.
“Are we following blazes?” one woman sounds out. “Yes,” my buddy Tennessee and I holler over our shoulders. The trail-marking blazes live above us, high on tree trunks, where they are convenient for cross-country skiers to spot. The regular, trail-level blazes are still beneath our feet, buried in the snowpack. For countless rounds, we repeat our call-and-response with our companion. Her anxiety bars her from learning to spot the blazes for herself.
A sudden plunge and you, your pack and your senses are buried in a cavity with a small tree. There is no surface warning, but below, snow has melted around the tree and the hole waits for you.
What looks like an easy shortcut across a snowy meadow is a fatiguing trudge through a frozen egg-crate of sun cups. Like mountain-biking across a boar-churned field that eats your tires, it is often easier to travel further around than cut through.
Almost before you realize it’s happening, a newly molted brown weasel darts through the forest in front of you—in complete silence and fully visible—compliments of snow.
—Julia Cline ’79
Arboreal Lookout (Julia Cline, ’79)
Wilderness Evening (Julia Cline, ’79)
My classmate Bill Olayos and I chose Sea Education Association (SEA) for our Outdoor Leadership experience in 1975, and formed a lifelong bond. We met for the first time at SEA. We were very self-conscious about being the only two Moreheads, and the only two rising college freshmen out of a crew of about 30 students who were already in college. Besides being (a little) older, everyone else had already been in oceanography classes together before we joined, barely before the ship sailed. It says a lot that in August, when I reported to campus in Chapel Hill, only the second time I was ever in North Carolina, I made Bill my local “emergency contact,” and for “relationship,” I put, “shipmate.” The program was sailing and also practicing oceanography, from Woods Hole, Massachusetts, to Bermuda, then to Maine, then back to Woods Hole. Sounds great, and it was, but the sailing and watchstanding were hard, hard work, with big, around-the-clock responsibilities towards our shipmates, and even actual, potential danger, from weather and ship traffic. The experience of going to sea, and the practical skills I learned, like using a sextant, steering the ship, tying knots, getting up in the middle of the night, sharing in the cooking and cleaning, etc., was a big confidence-builder for my later Navy service. More important, Bill and I are still best buds. We have remained in as frequent touch as possible, even though Bill emigrated to Australia decades ago.
—Jim Henry ’79
It’s funny—the way I chose my Outward Bound course was to pick the farthest place available so I could travel! I’m so glad I chose Colorado, because it’s amazing how many times over the years it has been a commonality I can talk about with people I meet—at conferences, while traveling, when meeting new friends and acquaintances. Someone will be from that area or just bring up that part of the world, and when I say that I did an Outward Bound course there, it’s this incredible instant communication, and the conversation just flows from there. I’m not exaggerating when I say that has happened at least 50 times in my life. And just the experience of Outward Bound itself was such an education in leadership and life. For some reason, my course consisted of mostly older people—CEOs and managers of companies that had been sent on Outward Bound as a professional development opportunity. And on the course, all you can do is talk, so I spent a lot of time hearing about their work challenges and what they’d been sent into the wilderness to learn. For an 18-year-old, this offered me so much insight. It was like a head start on life. There was also one younger lady on the course who seemed a little spoiled—like she might have been coddled quite a bit along the way—and she was a challenge to all of us. I think she might have been sent on Outward Bound to kind of toughen her up. One of the CEOs was assigned as her partner for a particularly tough physical challenge. Watching that CEO deal with her, managing the generational and work-ethic gap that they had to navigate to successfully complete the challenge, was eye opening. Because he took her seriously and trusted her, it changed her behavior for the better. I remember it all like it was yesterday.
—Maurice Smith ’96
Iam not an overly emotional person, and the list of things to bring me to tears is a short one. I will never forget Outward Bound Utah in the summer of 1996. Realizing not only the respect I gained as a leader but the understanding that others could see those skills shortly after meeting me was overwhelming to the point of tears. That summer set the pace for me for everything I was able to accomplish at Carolina and beyond.
—Connie Sawyer ’00
Outward Bound (summer of 1999) was a transformative experience. Although I enjoyed being outdoors, I hadn’t been camping since kindergarten and really didn’t know what to expect. I’ll never forget the packing list, which included “side-zip neoprene diver booties”—I unearthed these gems during a move 18 years later and reluctantly donated them. With a healthy dose of fear, I loaded my backpack with books and trudged around the Raleigh suburbs, and even around Chapel Hill during C-TOPS, to be sure my steel shank boots were broken in and I was ready. The flight from RDU to Seattle was my first time traveling solo and was full of hiccups, delays, missed shuttles, pay-phone calls, etc. That problem-solving alone was a great start to OB and adulthood in general. The next month provided some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen—two weeks sailing in the San Juan Islands/Puget Sound and two weeks mountaineering in the North Cascades. There were plenty of physical and mental challenges, but I left Washington more fully conscious of what I could accomplish as an individual and as a member of a team. I fell in love with the mountains and have lived in or near them since college. I also managed to go on shorter-but-still-awesome second and third OB trips in Colorado and Utah as part of a post-grad fellowship program, and my husband and I plan to send our daughters on NOLS or OB as soon as they are old enough!
—Kim Jessen Roberson ’03
Iframe my Outdoor Leadership (OL) experience as a light switch that was turned on. As a type-A perfectionist, being thrown onto a course with no experience or confidence in my outdoor skills felt like a cruel joke. I now know it was a precious gift. I learned that meaningful growth comes from outside your comfort zone. I learned that being vulnerable and letting others lead is its own form of leadership. I learned that sometimes doing “the scary thing” can bring you immense joy. My life after Outdoor Leadership (and the choices I made because of what I learned in the backwoods of Colorado) became an adventure full of possibility instead of a straight and paved path.
Now, as a member of the Morehead-Cain staff, I have the privilege of listening to freshman scholars sit in my office and gush about their own transformational OL experiences. Hearing them play back the lessons I learned over 25 years ago—lessons I still lean on—reminds me that OL also serves as a tie that binds this incredibly diverse community; it is a shared experience that celebrates many of the values we hold dear—growth, perseverance, self-reflection, leadership, courage, and gratitude. But my favorite moment is when a scholar shares the advice they received in their Morehead-Cain Alumni letter during their course, a kernel of wisdom or encouragement that got them through their most difficult day, a moment when someone understood their journey and believed in their potential. I get to witness a scholar feel the power of our community for the first time and then I get to tell them: this is just the beginning.
—Julie
McManus Werry ’03
During my solo, as part of my Outdoor Leadership experience in the Colorado Rockies in the summer of 1999, being in nature provided an amazing opportunity to reflect. After receiving an opportunity to attend a prestigious boarding school four years prior and ultimately being awarded a Morehead-Cain Scholarship, I knew that my life would be forever changed. Hailing from a working-class, Caribbean immigrant community in NYC, I knew that I had come a long way, but I also sensed that I had an even further way to go in fulfilling my potential. The expansiveness of the Colorado wilderness was a reminder of the limitless possibilities that I knew lay ahead for my life. But as I took it all in during my solo, amidst the wilderness, grappling with the clarity from my three-day fast, I couldn’t help but think about Ivan Francis, Justin Wilson, and the many talented friends that I left behind in NYC. I was consumed with sadness because I knew many friends that I left would have very different life outcomes because they had not received opportunities like the Albert G. Oliver Scholars Program and the Morehead-Cain as I had. The unfairness of it all and sense of loss sparked a passion for community development, opportunity expansion and economic equality—interests that continue to shape my life vision to this day.
—Larry Braithwaite ’03
My Outdoor Leadership experience had the most profound impact on my personal life. The memories and lessons collected from a roughand-tumble month along Lake Superior have resonated long after I took my first much-needed shower following our journey. Our eclectic group of travelers spent ten days backpacking along the Lake Superior Trail in Minnesota and then traversed north to Canada, where we spent two weeks kayaking down the lake and its spellbinding scenery. However, it was not the pristine and wonderful solitude of the water that remains with me, but rather the handful of harrowing and exhilarating experiences we encountered along the way. Of note, we were pinned down by an especially violent storm in the middle of the night during our kayaking portion. The intensity of the lightning and the deafening thunder shook each of us as we cowered in the woods to wait it out. The fear was especially palpable after we had been told of previous lightning fatalities on our course. But after a few hours, the squall finally subsided, and we witnessed a dramatic sky over the horizon. Our instructor, whom I nicknamed “The Yoda of Canada,” said something to me that has stayed with me: “We only find out what we are capable of when we have no choice but to survive. So we should be thankful every time we make it through something. We grew.” That lesson of resilience and appreciation is a hallmark of my Morehead-Cain summer experiences.
My Outward Bound sailing and seakayaking course off the coast of Maine afforded me my first-ever flight without a parent, the longest I’d ever been away from home, and several valuable lessons that still guide me today. Unfortunately, I was the only scholar on my trip, and being without my cell phone, unable to talk to my friends and family, and unsure about our nightly “shelter”—I felt very anxious about the 22 days. Working with kids from around the United States who were VERY different from me wasn’t easy, but I had to learn to work across differences. I had to decide when to lead, and when to follow as we learned critical nautical skills that enabled us to make it to our station for the night. We had to take responsibility for mistakes made in navigation so that we could move forward in our adventure. I learned during my solo that self-reflection is often more important than external validation. I won’t lie—the summer course was the hardest thing I’d done in life up to that point. But those lessons—and the fact that no matter where I’ll go, at least I’ll have a stable shelter—have helped me continue to succeed at hard things in life. I appreciate the opportunity to do hard things and learn hard lessons during my Outdoor Leadership summer—and it’s ALWAYS my fun fact when introducing myself. Not many can say they spent 22 days in the wilderness without a shower!
—Janel Monroe ’10
My Outdoor Leadership summer humbled me. And if I’m being honest, I needed humbling at that point in my life. I had just been selected as a Morehead-Cain Scholar after all. I was one of the select few! Put me in any situation, I thought, I’ll lead.
The Wind River Wilderness had other ideas. Within days, I got homesick. A week later, our re-ration couldn’t reach us through the snow (it was late June). To get to our food we had to hike five miles over the same terrain the horses wouldn’t cross. We didn’t eat for thirty-six hours. I survived. I didn’t thrive.
Even still, when it came time for the instructors to choose the leaders for our student-led expeditions, I was sure I’d hear my name. I was a Morehead-Cain Scholar after all. I wasn’t chosen. I had to learn to play a role as foreign to me as the Wyoming landscapes we traversed: follower. I swallowed my pride and contributed.
I had expected to leave my Outdoor Leadership summer with a sense of invincibility. I didn’t. It turns out I’m vincible after all. But I did leave with something even more valuable: a little bit of humility, just at the time when I needed it most.
Leadership is service. In many situations, I serve best by leading. But it took twenty-eight days in the woods to realize that isn’t every situation. I’ll forever be grateful that my Outdoor Leadership summer taught me when and how to follow.
—Alex Karsten ’14
“I
am leaving my Outward Bound course with a greater value of life and others, as well as a larger awareness of myself and my tendencies. No words can serve to show or express the growth and change I’ve experienced in the last three weeks.”
—Diamond Moore ’27, Hurricane Island
Outward Bound School Alum ’23
Outward Bound USA
We are thrilled to join the Morehead-Cain Foundation in honoring fifty years of the Summer Enrichment Program (SEP). We know that experiential education offers unique learning experiences that traditional classrooms alone cannot provide. Through exploration, young people engage in hands-on activities that foster self-discovery and long-term growth. We also know that these experiences are a team effort.
“Collaborating with incredible partners who value experiential learning through adventure, like the Morehead-Cain Foundation, expands our educational mission. Together, we amplify our shared belief in the power of confidence, awareness, and exploration,” says Katie Newsom, Chief Advancement Officer of Outward Bound USA. “Providing purposeful, life-changing learning experiences for students at a critical time in their educational journeys is a shared organizational goal for Outward Bound and Morehead-Cain, making for a lasting and meaningful partnership.”
Over many years and many remote and awe-inspiring outdoor locations, Outward Bound has welcomed eager MC Scholars to multiday backpacking, canoeing, and rafting expeditions. The impact of these experiences extends far beyond the course itself, fostering personal growth and resilience among the scholars.
We are proud to be part of the Morehead-Cain Alumni community and look forward to welcoming Morehead-Cain Scholars to Outward Bound long into the future! Congratulations on fifty years of inspiration!
National Outdoor Leadership School
We have been honored to partner with Morehead-Cain for many years. We are proud of our shared legacy and know that together, we are educating and empowering the leaders of today and tomorrow. Morehead-Cain Scholars have brought their diverse life experiences, a drive to learn, and thoughtful perspectives to NOLS courses, positively influencing other students and our instructors.
“ Working with each Morehead-Cain Scholar profoundly reminds us why we do what we do every day. Hearing about their field leadership experiences inspires our growth and renews our passion for the NOLS mission. We hope that the NOLS experience for Morehead-Cain Scholars has contributed to their success and journey, and we look forward to another fifty years!”—Eli Martins, NOLS instructor
Second Summer
FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD
We thought we could provide a great service, not only to the University and society, but also to those young people, by giving them exposure to the real world. So we prescribed an experience with a law-enforcement agency in a major metropolitan area. We sent our staff out to develop these programs, and the law-enforcement agencies just jumped at it. They said, “Yes, please send them to us. We’d love nothing better than to have some bright kids understanding what our life is like, understanding what life on the street is all about.” And they were so cooperative. And we knew these kids would eat it up.
—Alan Dickson
The second summer experience began as a way to expose scholars to parts of American society about which they—along with many people—were largely ignorant, and about which they had many misconceptions. For the next 20 years, Morehead-Cain Scholars who were rising sophomores worked and rode alongside police officers at several dozen public safety departments across the United States, gaining an appreciation for the dedication of the many public servants who risked their lives daily to protect their fellow citizens. The scholars’ workdays could be exciting, stressful, or deadly dull, depending on the calls that came in and the assignments they received, but the weeks spent with actual police officers on the front lines profoundly influenced and elevated the social awareness of every scholar who participated.
As time passed, it became increasingly evident that the scholars’ summer role in law enforcement was limited to observing, rather than participating. Additionally, the liability of sending university students into possibly life-threatening situations became untenable. By 1997, only one police department still served as a summer enrichment sponsor: the Menlo Park Police Department, which was in its final year as a sponsor after hosting scholars every summer from the beginning of the Summer Enrichment Program.
The transformation of the second summer took place in earnest in the early 1990s, when the previous Public Safety/Public Sector offerings were phased out and replaced by Public Service internships, starting with two contemporary organizations: Summerbridge (a summer school for underserved children, held mostly on the campuses of private, independent secondary schools) and Amigos de las Americas (a service/cultural exchange program in Central America). In 1993, two scholars were sent to Summerbridge National in San Francisco. The following year, one scholar went to Costa Rica with Amigos de las Americas and ten scholars were sent to Summerbridge campuses in Cincinnati; Los Angeles; Louisville; Manchester, New Hampshire; Miami; and San Francisco. In 1995, there were 21 Summerbridge campuses with scholar participants, stretching from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Honolulu, Hawaii. Other service organizations quickly followed, and soon scholars could be found engaging in compassionate work in domestic and international posts from Montana to New York and from Africa to Thailand and beyond.
After scholars had spent much of their Outdoor Leadership summer focused on their personal growth, the newly conceived second summer directed scholars’ attention to the needs surrounding them by giving them eight to ten weeks of full-time work in hands-on service to others. The Foundation’s goal in offering this experience was to augment the ideal held by John Motley Morehead III, Morehead-Cain’s visionary founder, who shared the
time-honored belief that it is the responsibility of those to whom much is given to give much in return. Invariably, scholars returned from these interactive summers of service having received a great deal—insight into the needs, wishes, and worldviews of cultures very different from their own; critical skills in problem solving, improvising, and team building; and a practical understanding of the impact that their own actions, energies, and commitments can have on the lives of others.
In 2016, the Foundation refashioned the second summer once again, unveiling a program called Civic Collaboration. The Civic Collaboration summer is an opportunity for small groups of scholars to engage in a “deep dive” into vital issues faced by a midsized North American city while partnering with a host organization of local change makers. The scholars’ job is to learn as much as possible about an ongoing or emerging dilemma, challenge, or problem and contribute to the work being done in connection to it. Through this process, they acquire an understanding of the complex relationships among a city’s economic, cultural, political, and historical structures and wrestle with its often ambiguous challenges. In the end, scholars have an unmatched opportunity to become better self-starters, collaborators, and citizens while helping to bring real benefits to the people of the city.
In 2016 there were two Civic Collaboration cities: Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Louisville, Kentucky. After four years of pilot programs, the Foundation was set to replace all remaining Public Service internships with Civic Collaboration placements in 2020, but the COVID pandemic put a halt to all in-person summer experiences that year. The next summer, however, all rising sophomore scholars participated in Civic Collaboration teams, and they continue to do so. Seventy-two scholars were deployed across 15 cities during the summer of 2024, including Annapolis, Maryland; Cleveland, Ohio; and San Diego, California.
Summer Enrichment Reflections
CHUCK LOVELACE ’77, Former Executive Director, Morehead-Cain Foundation
Sometime midway through our first year at Carolina, my MoreheadCain classmates and I received a letter from Assistant Director Bo Bishop asking if we would be interested in a new program for the coming summer where scholars would be sent to work in public safety agencies (police departments) somewhere in the United States. It quickly became quite the topic of fascination among us, but for me, having already resigned myself to working in my hometown’s paper mill for another hot, boring summer, this out-of-theblue option was a true change of fortune. You can’t imagine how quickly I volunteered.
I was assigned alone to the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department. I lived for eight weeks without a car in downtown Kansas City in a small room without a kitchen in a high-rise hotel. Eventually, I amped up my curiosity and thrived on the opportunity for adventure. While I benefited from the companionship of another scholar in the following two summers, it turned out to be such a gift to be sent solo that first summer, when I learned so much about myself. It’s hard not to be cliche about the actual internship. It was eye-opening, challenging, heartbreaking, heartwarming, exciting, and often boring. Armed with a new interest in the justice system, I returned to campus in August and applied to the Student Attorney General’s Staff.
The following two summers were equally valuable. I learned what I didn’t want to do at Weyerhaeuser Company in Tacoma, Wash -
ington, and changed my major immediately upon return. At the Governor’s Office of California in Sacramento, I witnessed the creation of the California Conservation Corps, which amazingly is still going strong almost five decades later. Gov. Jerry Brown, a.k.a. “Governor Moonbeam,” ran for President that summer, and we attended a fundraiser in Los Angeles. Back in Sacramento, we saw a Governor Jimmy Carter rally on the state capitol steps and spotted a fraternity brother, a new Secret Service agent, on the team protecting him. It was the most surreal two months of my life.
When the Foundation asked me to join the staff in 1984 as treasurer and assistant director, what called me back was my desire to repay the outsized impact of my summer experiences. It was no small responsibility, but a great privilege, to perpetuate this opportunity. A couple of principles guided our team over the years. First, the program needed to continually evolve and improve. As we tried new ideas, we returned to the model that I had been part of when the Foundation tested the new Public Safety summer— recruit a few scholar volunteers and pilot it. That allowed the program to evolve slowly rather than change abruptly, and we learned so much from our pilots. Secondly, the program, beginning with the public safety concept, has always been somewhat contrarian— we were never afraid to do what we thought was right, whether it went against the grain of current thinking or not. And finally, Trustee Robert Cluett once made a comment that landed with me. A long-time college professor, he said, “The student probably knows what’s best for them more than I do.” Adopting this principle resulted over time in our offering scholars more choice and flexibility in their experiences.
Bravo to the Foundation trustees, who in 1974 had the vision and the courage to undertake this bold experiment. I was so fortunate to be there in the beginning and live it vicariously over the years since.
At age 21 in 1976, I drove about 5,500 miles cross country and back with a certain Chuck Lovelace (later of Morehead-Cain Executive Director fame) to Sacramento to intern in California Governor Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown’s office. I was a green upstart from West Texas, and I never looked at the world the same again.
During the trip, I gazed for hours out the car window at the Appalachian Mountains, the endless desert plains, or the Rockies. I learned that New Mexico is a bad place to have your car break down. America is a good place to have big dreams. The radio endlessly played the likes of “You Should Be Dancing” by the Bee Gees, “December 1963 (Oh What a Night)” by The Four Seasons, and “Play That Funky Music” by Wild Cherry. We were surviving the disco era.
Almost every day that summer, I was presented with an experience that was transformative or eye opening. For example, Gov. Brown was then dating rock star Linda Ronstadt and running for President of the United States versus Jimmy Carter. That seemed like an interesting career path!
I traveled throughout California for the new California Conservation Corps, helping find potential summer projects for underprivileged urban youth. Along the way, and often with Chuck, I spent a weekend at a Zen retreat in Big Sur, checked out Hollywood, camped in the Giant Redwood Forest, and took in San Francisco, the Pacific Ocean, and Reno. Amazing!
The Foundation’s assigned reading was Up the Organization, by Avis Rent-A-Car (“We Try Harder!”) CEO Robert Townsend. One lesson in this still-relevant, humorous, and deceptively simple book: “All decisions should be made as low as possible in the organization.” Small Is Beautiful by E. F. Schumacher also became essential reading. It was all the rage with the hippie-oriented staff in the Governor’s
Office. Its message: Workers could best be fulfilled and productive working on projects from start to finish for organizations no larger than 300 people. Hmmm? Another book was Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Persig. What was Zen!?
Other takeaways from the summer that shaped my future aspirations and had an impact on my personal or professional life: A future in the private sector might be more fun than one in the public sector (I ended up in NYC, mainly on Wall Street). Friendships are what really matter. My invaluable friendship with my pal Chuck has lasted 50 years and counting.
—Tom Ward ’77
The summer of 1975 at the LAPD was transformative for me, a small-town boy who had hardly been outside of North Carolina. It changed forever my view of our country and the world. Every experience opened my eyes wider. Driving a leased Ford Pinto down a ten-lane freeway (I had only ever seen a four-lane highway) on day one, processing prisoners in the jail, responding to violent domestic disputes, ballistics testing with the bomb squad, watching an autopsy, riding patrol on Sunset Strip, nighttime traffic stops, observing training at the Academy, conversing with officers about the public safety and social issues they faced each day. Just living in Los Angeles was full of adventure. The weather, the people, the geography, and the food gave me a diverse cultural immersion unlike any experiences I had had. Driving through the various communities of L.A., coping with traffic congestion, and even trips to the grocery store brought new lessons in life. With weekend road trips including Tijuana, Malibu, Monterey, and Las Vegas, Joe Albright, my fellow intern, and I lived through unique experiences daily. Even after fifty years, the memories are vivid and color my attitudes and analysis of the current social challenges of our cities. The opportunity stretched me in countless ways.
—Charles Bowman ’78
Get down!” the officer screamed to my fellow intern and me, as he raced out of the squad car. He had the unenviable responsibility of responding to a domestic violence emergency while also ensuring our safety. This was one of many moments in our Public Safety internship in 1976 that poked holes in the bubble of my pretty idyllic life experience to date at home and in Chapel Hill.
While all the Summer Enrichment Programs built very effectively on each other and taught significant lessons in navigating life challenges, the Public Safety experience had the most far-reaching and sustained impact in my life. Our internship showed us unvarnished daily life of police officers and allowed us to follow cases from start to finish—participating in initial responses, investigations, arrests, autopsies, and court cases. We joined recruits in weapons training, including the 1970s “Shoot–Don’t Shoot” films, jumped as “hostages” from the roof of a building filled with tear gas during SWAT training, interviewed prostitutes taken into custody, and moved with officers investigating stolen bicycles one minute to murders the next.
Two significant impacts from this summer stand out to me 50 years later:
• My glimpse into law enforcement culture still influences my view of officers, their work and high-profile cases today.
• These experiences exposed me to levels of abject poverty and ethnic, racial, social, and cultural issues that I had never encountered. They began to open my teenage eyes and heart to see my need to view and treat others as human beings who, like me, are in need of lots of understanding and grace.
—Mary Sherrill Mallory ’79
When I began my summer internship in the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office in 1977, I had no idea that twenty years later that experience would shape my response to my child’s autism diagnosis. As a Consumer Protection specialist that summer, I handled complaints from individuals who had experienced unfair business practices. Individually, those complaints had little impact. But as our office collected and sorted multiple accounts of similar issues, we were able to see patterns and offer guidance through a systematic response. Complaints were resolved, letters of heartfelt gratitude received, and I felt both useful and in awe of the power of an organized approach to problem solving.
Twenty years later, in the spring of 1997, my five-yearold daughter Madison brought home a yellow flyer in her Barney backpack inviting me to a classmate’s home to learn about an autism therapy that was helping her classmate learn to talk. Despite an early diagnosis and therapies, Madison was still non-verbal. Thanks to the information from a generous parent, we tried this therapy and were stunned at its success—finally Madison had some basic words, allowing her to express herself! I began to think about who else could benefit. A small group began to meet to exchange information and be a resource for other families. In 2000 we founded a nonprofit, Pathfinders for Autism.
Serving over 20,000 individuals annually, we’ll celebrate our 25th anniversary in 2025. Once again, I feel useful and in awe of the power of an organized approach to problem solving.
Life’s challenges are easier when we struggle together, I learned and continue to experience.
—Becky Smith Galli ’80
Prior to the summer of 1983, the closest I ever came to meeting a police officer, in person, was as a child when my mom was pulled over and received a warning citation for not yielding when entering a rotary. Growing up in a Boston suburb and then attending boarding school, I led a relatively sheltered life and shyly admit that I did not learn to drive until my senior year at Chapel Hill. Needless to say, my assignment with the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office in Portland, Oregon, for my “Public Safety” internship following my freshman year was an eyeopening and transformative experience across so many dimensions.
The opportunity to shadow highly trained law enforcement professionals who had dedicated their careers to serving their community was eye-opening for me. While I had always been interested in helping others in a voluntary capacity, this was the first time I became aware—mostly from the passenger seat of a patrol car—of the commitment and dedication of those who chose this profession as a fulltime job.
Over the course of my summer internship, I was able to learn about various law enforcement functions, I compiled data on several developing cases including a local cocaine ring, and I even spent a day on the firing range, which I surprisingly enjoyed.
Without question, the highlight of my experience was riding patrol with various officers. Most of the days were calm, with definite bouts of boredom, punctuated by in-depth conversation with the officer with whom I was paired for the day. A particular rite of passage for fellow Morehead-Cain Scholars was the “graveyard shift”—those long pitch-black evenings we detailed in our letters to one another over the summer. Of course, we had no email back then, so nighttime entertainment included corresponding
with classmates through handwritten letters. We drank bottomless cups coffee from thick white porcelain mugs at 2:00 a.m. in local diners, chatting about life—our similarities and differences—with a veneer of calm but always anticipating the unknown nature of what might lie ahead in the early dawn hours.
In the mid-1980s, Portland was a diverse socioeconomic city with neighborhoods characterized by simple bungalows, small apartment complexes and many mobile home communities. Most of the daytime activities while riding patrol included uneventful traffic stops and follow-up investigations on recently reported home break-ins. As I quickly realized, incoming calls regarding domestic disputes were often deemed the most dangerous given the potential for violence, which thankfully I was instructed to observe from the safe confines of the patrol car.
I am amazed by how frequently I think about this internship, over 40 years ago. Not only was it an experience of a lifetime but also, it was instrumental in providing me with a firsthand appreciation of public service—from a professional and personal perspective. As I contemplate how I can most effectively impact and serve my communities, I continue to draw on the lessons I learned and the impressions I developed during that memorable summer.
—Susan Adler Alesina ’86
It starts with the blare of the police radio. Within a few weeks, the chatter of the codes and street names—the world in which the Kansas City Police Department lived— started to come alive. The first couple of ride-alongs were long and tedious with a couple of things happening and a disproportionate amount of paperwork. Then I was snapped out of the mundane by a quick comment from the officer. “You can stay in the cruiser, or you can come with me,” he said calmly as I heard shots fired nearby. I got out of the car and heard a bullet lodge in the building nearest us. I hesitated and then realized that the car was not bulletproof, so quickly jogged to catch up with my assigned officer and tucked into the apartment building right behind him to watch a very emotional domestic dispute.
My eyes were opened for the first time to a world that exists in every town/city, but of which I, to date, had been blithely unaware. The culture shock still hits me today as I see the news and think about how much relief I felt when I unplugged from the scanner at the end of the summer. I have the utmost respect for the officers I worked with and have thought about them often over the past three decades.
—Paul Kritzer ’92
During the summer of ’89, I lived the life of an action movie star.
The Foundation placed me with the Los Angeles Police Department, where I found myself on some wild rides. There was the afternoon we flew 90 miles per hour down the road to a stabbing in progress. One evening, I rode with the helicopter patrol as it zigged and zagged, pursuing suspects from the air. Another night, I shadowed the Hollywood Vice as it set up a prostitution sting. With the K-9 Unit, I wore a fortified sleeve and had a German Shepherd “attack” me.
Off the clock, it didn’t slow down. Guys from the vice squad, including our internship coordinator, were producing a light-hearted video where they showed off their daring, such as tricks on water skis and parachuting in the desert. I got to do those things, too. Yep, even jumping out of a plane.
I was only 18 years old and from a small North Carolina town. Not a lot of high adventure to date. But that summer was such a confidence builder. Presented with so many opportunities, I said yes, again and again.
It’s a spirit I continue to embrace, whether it’s traveling to a country where I don’t know the language or switching careers in middle age. I’m not always fearless, but I like to think I’m not afraid to say yes.
Jen goes bungee jumping while on assignment for The Daily Tar Heel. Hardly fearless, but she did it!
In the summer of 1991, my Morehead-Cain classmate Wendy and I ventured to Rochester, New York, to intern with the Rochester Police Department—the RPD. We grew up in North Carolina in towns nowhere near the size of Rochester. The RPD, however, integrated us into its daily work immediately. We went on ride-alongs, trained police dogs, watched officers respond to and break up fights, patrolled neighborhoods, and helped with a lot of paperwork. We also regularly observed officers’ getting to know people, young and old. The RPD talked to everybody, answered questions, asked about families, and exchanged information about themselves. Why did the RPD spend their day doing—what I thought was—non-police work? The officers believed the way to serve and protect the community was to know the community, be available, and stay approachable. Although those memories are through the eyes of a college student, those observations have interestingly impacted my professional career. I am a chief compliance officer, and my job is to help my company comply with many, many rules, while leading a team to protect a community—internally and externally. I believe most people carry an instinct to do the right thing and to ask if they don’t know what that thing is. It helps when I learn about my community, and they learn about me. Every day, I make myself available and approachable. Thinking back, that summer has helped me be the person and professional I am. Thank you Morehead-Cain and the RPD.
—Lilly
Farahnakian ’94
Ialways wanted to help people and planned on becoming a doctor. But my Public Service summer experience truly changed my life. While serving as an intern at San Diego Youth and Community Services in San Diego, I worked with teens who were in recovery from substance abuse, and realized my true calling was social justice work, especially supporting marginalized young people. I came back to UNC, dialed up my campus activism, and eventually pursued a master’s degree in nonprofit management. I have spent my entire career in social change fields and am very grateful for the experiences UNC and the Morehead-Cain provided to find my passion and begin to understand how I could make a difference in our communities.
—Katie Hultquist ’96
Each summer experience positively affected my life (thank you again and forever, Morehead-Cain), but the summer I lived and volunteered in a remote town in Costa Rica was exceptional. Located just a few miles from the border with Nicaragua, its widely dispersed homes were connected by dirt roads.
The home I lived in, run by a grandmother matriarch and housing an average of seven family members across three generations, had no electricity and no running water, but its tin roof kept us dry, and candles provided light. We had clean water from a nearby spring, ample rice and beans, and occasional locally grown fruit, eggs, and poultry. Family members were highly engaged with one another, and the house was brimming with smiles and love. With those essentials, plus worthwhile work (helping build a house for a teacher) and adventure (some of it in the surrounding rainforest, either just for fun or to repair a long plastic pipe which brought spring water to the school), my Costa Rican host family and I were incredibly happy.
That summer experience helped build my perspective on what really matters. It is clear to me that the most important thing in life is love. There are only a handful of other critical basic needs, most of which can be met simply. Worthwhile work, natural beauty, and adventure are really nice additions. Everything else follows.
—Erik Mikysa ’00
Traveling to Thailand for the Public Service summer was my first time traveling abroad and only my second time in an airplane. Now, over thirty countries later, it’s amazing to look back and acknowledge this spark that turned into a flame. My passion for international travel and the exploration of new cultures started with a Morehead-Cain boarding pass. Teaching English those ten weeks in rural Thailand changed my life and I can’t wait to take my kids back there one day to hopefully change theirs as well.
—Sebastian Williams ’10
Ispent my Public Service summer after my first year in Rabat, Morocco. My first volunteer placement was in the Rabat Children’s Hospital’s Hematology/ Oncology and Asthma wards, shadowing clinicians and teaching basic lessons in the hospital school. I had long wanted to be a pediatrician but realized that I could not personally distance myself from the pain my patients and their families experienced as providers administered treatments and delivered heartbreaking diagnostic updates. The summer was a key step in my journey to recognizing that practicing medicine was not the best career fit and exploring other avenues for pursuing my passion for healthcare. I have since pursued a fulfilling career in healthcare administration and health tech. I still reflect often on how “my kids” lacked access to basic medical technology that we take for granted, such as inhalers, causing them to be treated in acute settings versus managing symptoms at home. My entire perspective changed after experiencing life, and healthcare, in a very resource-constrained environment and I returned to UNC with deep gratitude.
The summer also enabled me to pursue other goals: experiencing an Islamic culture, living/ traveling independently in a developing country, practicing French, learning Arabic. While I remember very little Darija, countless moments stick with me, from visiting mosques and shopping in the medina to participating in daily prayer. I experienced the challenges that women face in Moroccan society and loved working with women who were launching small artistic ventures. I continue to draw on my summer experiences daily!
—Natalie Sutton Alvarez ’11
After my first year at UNC, I traveled to Northern Tanzania to live with the Maasai tribe. Cut off from all cell service, internet, electricity, running water, and the outside world for ten weeks, it was far from a comfortable summer. In fact, it may have been the most difficult period of my life. But it taught me about resilience and about finding the small positives in tough days, and it opened my eyes to a totally different way of living. Over fourteen years after that experience, I still often think about that summer and what it taught me about myself. And believe it or not, I look back on that summer with great fondness and appreciation!
—Josh Ford ’12
Idid not want to go to Ethiopia. I knew nothing of the culture, the food, the scenery. I knew nothing of the beauty and generosity of the people. I only knew that South Africa was where my best friends were going. The Morehead-Cain encouraged me to think differently and expand my horizons.
It turns out that their guidance was transformative.
My fondest memories of the SEP came that summer in the high mountains of East Africa. I worked for an impactful nonprofit and an acclaimed visionary, watching her prove that resources do not determine impact. I ate “scary” food, much to the delight of my taste buds. I watched the World Cup final with the locals. I saw rare Ethiopian lions, with their distinct black manes, in the wild. I sat on the edge of an Ethiopian canyon. I witnessed major populations of Christians, Muslims, and Jews living in harmony and mutual respect. I even participated in an Addis Ababa tourism photo shoot. Crucially, I visited over twenty low-income elementary schools and saw only smiles.
I entered the summer apprehensive and left with a new guiding principle: humans can find joy in any circumstance, if only we are willing to seek it. The people of Ethiopia, generous beyond expression to a scared kid, taught me this. I am forever grateful to Morehead-Cain and to the city of Addis Ababa.
—Tripp Andracchio ’17
My experience with African Leadership Academy and the Anzisha Prize was transformative. I had the opportunity to work with students and entrepreneurs from across Africa, greatly expanding my understanding of the continent in a way that would be impossible from sitting in North Carolina. We met with entrepreneurs to learn how their innovative technological creations were impacting their communities, which taught me the value of entrepreneurship, the potential for improving lives through ideas and business, the global dispersion of talent, and the universality of certain concepts despite geographical differences. We also got to shake hands with President Obama, which was a nice perk.
—Fields Pierce ’16
My Public Service SEP in 2018 changed my life for the better. I found a home in Summerbridge, a nonprofit English immersion program serving underprivileged youth in Hong Kong, where I taught creative writing and coached soccer. When I arrived, I was pushed out of my comfort zone as expected, yet my environment unexpectedly challenged my independence. While navigating a foreign city, I quickly learned to be selfreliant and assume grace under pressure, but finding independence wasn’t my greatest takeaway—my students were. While many never received love or had their voices heard, or had running water, or knew a home other than a rooftop covered in tarps and filth, they gifted me the most profound form of love I’ve discovered. Bearing the responsibility of— and praying you were providing enough emotional support for—those children went unmatched, but their stories of adversity opened my heart and made me reflect upon my own—especially when they saw something in me I’d never seen before. One student is the reason I changed my major to psychology when I returned to Chapel Hill that fall.
I introduced the “Happiness Jar” one day. At the start of class, each student wrote down what brought them joy—no matter how big or small, and that jar full of little doodles and notes now sits on my shelf, holding dear the memories and little happinesses Hong Kong gifted me. A reminder of the greatest lesson my students taught me: how to lead with your heart.
—Caroline Durante ’21
My Civic Collaboration SEP in summer 2018 was transformative for me and my fellow scholars. We were partnered with Forward Through Ferguson (FTF), a 501(c)3 established to be a catalyst for lasting positive change in the St. Louis region. Our task became to develop Sustainable Equity Development Goals (SEDGs) aligned with FTF’s #STL2039 Action Plan, focusing on building racial equity capacity.
Guided by local experts and inspired by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, our team—comprising my classmates Rhea Jaisinghani, Kimathi Muiruri, Jordyn Williams, and me—crafted these goals to endure beyond our tenure. This experience required us to engage in difficult conversations, actively listen, and respect that everyone’s journey in understanding topics like implicit bias and privilege varies.
It deepened my understanding of racial equity and implicit bias and reinforced my commitment to promoting equity and inclusion. Navigating the complexities of organizational development and racial equity taught me invaluable lessons in leadership and community engagement. These experiences continue to inform my actions, inspiring me to play an active role in creating a more equitable world.
—Taner Jacobs ’21
PARTNER PERSPECTIVE
PolicyBridge
RANDELL M C SHEPARD, Chairman and Co-Founder
For the last three years, I have served as the host for the Civic Collaboration summer program in Cleveland, Ohio. Over that timeframe, I have hosted 15 Morehead-Cain Scholars (five each year), who worked at a public policy think tank that I co-founded known as PolicyBridge. The work of PolicyBridge entails conducting qualitative and quantitative research to analyze and respond to public policies that impact minorities and other disenfranchised populations. The effort, compassion, energy, and brilliance given to this work by the Morehead-Cain Scholars has been nothing short of amazing and has helped our organization immensely to frame critical issues facing distressed people and communities in Cleveland. Each of the cohorts wrote extensive research reports with findings and sound recommendations that detailed how we can keep our efforts on track, and those reports are prominently displayed on our organization’s website for all to see. We could not be more proud of or thankful for the scholars and all that they have contributed to our city!
Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light
BUFF GRACE ’91
We’ve been so fortunate to host a scholar team for Civic Collaboration for the last four summers. The Morehead-Cain Scholar teams have expanded what’s possible for our modest nonprofit and built on each other’s work over the years. Our staff have been surprised by the depth of the scholars’ analysis, their creativity, and the caliber of their work. One team created a website on a key piece of legislation for us, another team an online educational tool for our constituents to lighten the burden on our staff. They have impressed our partner organizations and our volunteers. The leader of one of our partner organizations, whose career included heading a federal agency, was so impressed with the scholars’ questions in an interview that he asked how his organization could receive scholars next summer. Beyond the quality and impact of the projects, the scholars bring an energy and enthusiasm that brightens our office and lifts our spirits. They help us see our work and the questions we are facing with curious and fresh eyes. We’re grateful to the Morehead-Cain community for sharing these scholars and their gifts with us. Thank you!
City of Albuquerque
LIZ KISTIN KELLER ’04, Mayor’s Office
The City of Albuquerque has been fortunate to host teams since the inception of the Civic Collaboration summer. The Morehead-Cain Civic Collaboration program has made a profound impact on the City of Albuquerque, significantly enhancing our initiatives in public safety, sustainability, equity and inclusion, transit, senior affairs, and the development of a centralized internship development program. Their involvement has been transformative, driving meaningful progress and fostering innovation across our city departments.
In our transit department, Morehead-Cain Scholars have been instrumental in advancing our zero fares program. Their innovative approaches and analytical skills helped streamline the project, making public transportation more accessible and equitable for all residents. Similarly, their contributions to senior tech programs have been invaluable, integrating new technologies and creating user-friendly solutions that empower seniors to stay connected and engaged with community resources.
Moreover, the establishment of a centralized internship program, spearheaded over two summers by Morehead-Cain Scholars, will revolutionize opportunities for students and young professionals. Their strategic input has enriched career experiences while addressing critical needs within our city departments, thereby contributing to our broader goals of civic enhancement and social progress.
Overall, the Morehead-Cain community has infused our organization with a dynamic spirit of curiosity, creativity, and service. Each Civic Collaboration team has left an indelible mark on Albuquerque’s development, driving positive change and reinforcing our commitment to building a vibrant, equitable, and sustainable city.
Civic Collaboration
CITIES IMPACTED SINCE THE INCEPTION OF THE PROGRAM
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Annapolis, Maryland
Asheville, North Carolina
Baltimore, Maryland
Bentonville, Arkansas
Birmingham, Alabama
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Centennial, Colorado
Charleston, South Carolina
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chesterfield, Virginia
Chicago, Illinois
Cleveland, Ohio
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Fresno, California
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Jacksonville, Florida
Lexington, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Memphis, Tennessee
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Nashville, Tennessee
Raleigh, North Carolina
San Diego, California
Seattle, Washington
South Haven, Michigan
St. Louis, Missouri
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Third Summer
INTO A PROFESSIONAL SPACE
Now all of a sudden you had businesses catering to these young people, putting them in there with the chairmen when they were looking at problems of expansion, with top-level decision makers during acquisitions. Our scholars were right there, right there at the arm of power. It was heady stuff. A lot of investment banks got into it, and our scholars loved the bigcity experience, they loved New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco. We had groups of four, typically. We’d get them transportation; we’d cover the expense of a car. The logistics of this became burdensome, and it still is, but it is one hell of an attractive aspect of our Program. We paid all the expenses, so the corporations loved it, loved the opportunity to get these kids. They thought, “Here’s talent we’ll be able to get to early. They might like the idea of working for us down the road.”
—Alan Dickson
The Private Enterprise summer was instituted in 1975, offering scholars the ability to choose from a wide variety of private-sector and government internships. In the early years, the Foundation staff arranged placements and assigned scholars to their posts at various corporations and other organizations. The first Private Enterprise businesses were Adolph Coors Company, Golden, Colorado; Carolina Power & Light, Raleigh; Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, New York City; North Carolina National Bank, Charlotte; Pan American World
Airways, New York City; Sea Pines, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina; Triarch Corporation Ltd., Toronto; and Weyerhaeuser, Tacoma, Washington. By the second summer, internships with Fortune 500 companies Coca-Cola, DuPont, Hewlett-Packard, and 3M had been added. Hundreds of companies, health care organizations, and nonprofits have since joined the program, offering immensely beneficial experiences to their Morehead-Cain Scholar interns.
Through their third summer experiences, scholars have been able to engage in a myriad of professional situations, taking away relevant firsthand knowledge in a given field and receiving valuable mentoring from top executives, both in the United States and abroad. Whether or not scholars eventually chose to pursue the corporate, medical, or governmental career that they “tried on” during their third summer, the experience they gained during the creative, intense work of a Private Enterprise internship has often become an essential element of their postgraduate pursuits.
Over the years, many scholars have taken on more of the responsibility for identifying and arranging their own professional experience placements, with support from Morehead-Cain Alumni and staff. Currently, about half of each summer’s professional opportunities are arranged or hosted by Morehead-Cain Alumni. Ninetythree scholars interned with 84 corporations or organizations around the world during the summer of 2024, including the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland; the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C.; and Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Washington.
Icame to UNC thinking I wanted to be a medical doctor. My summer at the Cooper Green Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, was life changing. “The Coop,” as it was known in Birmingham, was the only charity hospital for miles around. Most patients did not own vehicles and boarded buses well before dawn and would not be home until late at night. They sat patiently in the waiting room, happy that a medical professional was willing to speak with them. They came without water, snacks, or items to engage the children waiting with them. I helped the triage person get them signed in and spent time speaking with them as they waited. Besides getting to know the patients, I got to know the ER doctors well. I was on the UNC cross country team, so I ran at lunch with three doctors training for a marathon. When you run and sweat with someone you get to know them on a deep level. All these doctors were young (mid 30s), married, had children, and were well respected by their peers. They all appeared to be happy until you spent time with them and learned that all were frustrated and felt that their lives were not what they had expected them to be. These conversations prompted me to think deeply about the kind of life that I really wanted for myself. I knew I loved math and science, but did not want to end up frustrated like the doctors from The Coop.
I ended up going into education. As a high school teacher, I knew that I needed to make science relevant to my students and that using a career context would do that. The twenty years I worked as a high school science teacher and coach, I spent two to four weeks each summer immersed in a science-related field. My goal was to find “STEMunition” to use when students asked me “Why do I need to know this?” If I could share a way a person used this content in a career, I knew I would have my students engaged.
I had learned from my Morehead-Cain summer experiences, that, as Marion Wright Edelman so wisely said, “You can’t be what you can’t see,” and it became a guiding principle in my work as a teacher, district leader, and then VP of Global STEM in ed tech. Because of my MoreheadCain summer experiences, I have been able to positively impact hundreds of thousands of students in 40 countries and across 48 states.
—Cindy
Hoffner Moss ’81
Following my junior year, I was privileged to serve as a research assistant for MP Sir Nicholas Lyell, UK Parliament. One of the most important aspects of the Summer Enrichment Program was the ability to work in areas outside of my planned future career. I planned to pursue medical training, so government experience in London was a unique opportunity. Two plus months in London allowed me to see how another democracy worked during a quite tumultuous time in the final years of Margaret Thatcher’s leadership. Projects included research on a proposed mandatory public service year for British youth and work on an anti-smoking campaign. Sir Lyell was a member of the Conservative party, far from my political leanings. We found more areas of agreement than disagreement in the projects I researched. Equally enriching was the opportunity to explore the UK with a BritRail pass and many long weekends. The luxury of an extended period in London allowed for hours in neighborhood pubs learning about the experiences of locals and time to explore the many museums of London. The entire summer was influential in opening my eyes to the accessibility of worlds far from North Carolina.
—Justin Gottlieb ’85
For me, the most transformative summer experience was working as an editorial assistant at FORTUNE Magazine in the summer of 1987. I headed to New York, having just completed my first year at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Working alongside FORTUNE’s world-class writers, I felt the intensity of meeting our deadlines, the thrill of crafting a perfect phrase and the pressure of researching and confirming every fact, stat, and quote. In my role, I interacted frequently with publicists and corporate communications teams leading me to choose the public relations track when I returned to UNC. It’s a career path I’ve followed to this day—nearly 40 years later. Overarching the work was the opportunity to be mentored and led by some incredible female writers and editors whose leadership lessons still resonate with me today. Being at FORTUNE also stoked my own fire for business and was instrumental in my decision to pursue an MBA, enter the world of corporate PR, and eventually start my own agency. In so many ways, I feel as if I’m still experiencing the ripple effects of that singular summer.
—Laura DiGiano Burrows ’89
Moving to New York City in the summer of 1987 was a pivotal moment in my life. I am from a small town and then headed off to Chapel Hill for college. Living in the big city opened up my curiosity and perceptions—and left me more confident, more mature, and certainly more adventurous.
The summer between my sophomore and junior years, I had the privilege of being assigned to Merrill Lynch Capital Markets for my Private Enterprise experience, mere months before the market crash in October 1987. Not knowing then but entering my junior year, I definitely absorbed more during my finance classes and well into my postcollege career in banking. During my program, I honed my Lotus 1-2-3 skills and prided myself on opening a file, then entering a column of numbers at record speed! Working alongside professionals exposed me to research, the trading desk, analysts in banking, and so much more. The aftermath in October showed me the volatility of the markets and the economic cycles that follow.
The Merrill Lynch offices were located in 2 World Financial Center by the Twin Towers. Again, not knowing then but watching the 9/11 attack on our country, I certainly was impacted by the tragic events on that day, seeing the collapse of a familiar image in my mind. The Private Enterprise program the summer of 1987 and the aftermath of 9/11 opened my world personally, educationally, and professionally.
—Anne Lynne Davis Charbonnet ’89
The most transformative summer experience during my time as a Morehead-Cain Scholar was the summer after my sophomore year, when I went to New York for an enterprise-focused opportunity. At that point, I was at a crossroads, trying to decide between a future in business or healthcare. Being in New York, I had the chance to witness the market opening on Wall Street, meet hedge fund founders like Darien Dash, and interact with clients in the fast-paced world of finance. It was thrilling to see business in action, but it also made me reflect on the type of career and lifestyle I wanted.
While I found the business and finance world fascinating, the demanding hours made me realize I valued work-life balance more than I had thought. This experience solidified my decision to pursue healthcare, where I felt I could make a meaningful impact while also maintaining a more balanced lifestyle. The experience in New York opened my eyes to a much bigger world than what I had known growing up in Shaker Heights, Ohio. Navigating the city, spending time in Central Park, and adjusting to the fast-paced environment were all eye-opening experiences that helped me grow.
I stayed that summer on the campus of Columbia University and had the chance to make new connections and friendships. This experience not only reinforced my path toward healthcare but also sparked an interest in future investments. I continue to visit New York at least once a year, especially for the US Open, and it remains a place that inspires and energizes me.
—Brad Picot ’02
My Enterprise summer, an internship working with Dr. Kingsley Asiedu at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, was particularly influential and to this day informs who I am as a physician, educator, and advisor to medical students and trainees. Through the creation of that summer—the product of multiple cold emails hoping for one receptive ear—I learned to fully trust in the pursuit of my passions regardless of the standard constructs that may otherwise define one’s path. I witnessed how the WHO functions, traveled to Paris and Ghana for meetings with partners and community health workers, and was entrusted to complete meaningful projects to increase collaboration. By living and working in the orbit of Dr. Asiedu, I absorbed the humility and humanity he brought to every one of his relationships and learned what it means to be a mentor.
—Amit Gupta ’08
When I was 11 years old, I would go to New York Yankees games with my dad hours ahead of first pitch. We’d stand outside of the players’ parking lot and as they’d arrive, I’d press against a short barrier with other diehards, my arm outstretched with baseball in hand, waiting for autographs from my favorite players. I could never imagine that ten years later, I’d walk through that same entrance every day on my way to work.
I spent the summer of 2007 as part of the Yankees media relations department—clipping newspaper articles about the team, compiling statistics and talking points for each game’s press packet, and reviewing box scores from Tampa, Charleston, and Scranton for the weekly minor league report. I also learned what it meant to “play it cool” every time I’d walk by my childhood icons like Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.
And in between the “pinch me” moments, I had a front row seat to the operations of one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world. I was taught the importance of paying attention to every detail, executing with excellence, and building professional relationships that are founded on trust and respect. Growing up, I knew I was never going to be point guard for the Knicks or shortstop for the Yankees, but I left that summer with an understanding of what it meant to work in sports, setting the stage for the first part of my career.
I often reflect on that summer with wonder, amazed that it even happened, and become overwhelmed by gratitude for the childhood dream I realized and the pathway it charted.
—Jesse Soloff ’08
In 2012, I spent my Private Enterprise summer doing a research project at the Baylor Health Care System (now Baylor Scott & White) in Dallas, Texas. That summer, I researched how community health workers (CHWs) at Baylor improved health outcomes for Spanishspeaking patients with diabetes. I interviewed patients and heard their stories about their challenges navigating the healthcare system, and how CHWs educated and empowered them to better manage their diabetes. My experience at Baylor sparked my interest in working to improve health equity, particularly around improving nutrition and access to health care for historically marginalized communities. It was a formative experience that cemented my desire to work in policy to address systemic barriers to health and well-being. This summer experience has come full circle for me in several ways. I began working at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) in 2018 to improve health for North Carolinians. During the COVID-19 pandemic, NCDHHS scaled up our CHW initiative statewide to reach people with trusted information about vaccines, testing, and food and housing resources. It was exciting to see how the community health worker model had grown since my research at Baylor. During COVID-19, I worked to improve health equity by establishing a public-private partnership to ensure equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to historically marginalized populations. I’m grateful for my MoreheadCain Summer Enrichment Program experience, which exposed me to public health research as a student and planted the seed for my current policy work to improve health and well-being for North Carolinians.
—Madhu Vulimiri ’14
Interested in exploring the potential of business as a means for positive impact, in 2018, I joined the sustainability team at cosmetics company Sephora, under the supervision of Corrie White Conrad ’02. One of my main responsibilities was managing the supplier responsibility program. I analyzed the company’s factory audits and found that women represent nearly 80 percent of the manufacturing workforce. I synthesized data on worker well-being initiatives implemented by similar companies to highlight leading initiatives that reduced absenteeism and turnover, and increased productivity and workforce skill level. Recognizing an opportunity to enhance both business outcomes and the welfare of workers, I presented my findings to Sephora’s executive leadership, advocating for investment in women in the company’s supply chain. Subsequently, my recommendations were included in the 2019 Sustainability Budget Proposal and shared with the parent company, LVMH, along with other subsidiaries at an annual sustainability summit. Equipped with my research conclusions, Sephora partnered with several factories to implement a women’s health program in 2019. Passionate about the work, I took a gap semester to continue my internship. In addition to learning a great deal about corporate sustainability and social impact, I gained lifelong mentors and friends. I also grasped the importance of the private sector’s role in solving the climate crisis, which has informed my path and current work at BSR, a global nonprofit consultancy that focuses on business transformation for a more just and sustainable world. My internship at Sephora was one of the most transformative experiences during my undergraduate degree, and I am extremely grateful for the Morehead-Cain Foundation’s guidance and generosity to pursue the PE summer as well as Corrie’s willingness to host me as an intern.
—Lizzie Russler ’20
As the world quickly shut its doors in the spring of 2020, so, too, did my planned Private Enterprise summer opportunity. In a bind, I reached out to various alumni in the Morehead-Cain community. Within 48 hours, I had signed an offer to work under Andrew Patterson ’06 at Greenfly, a digital media start-up operating primarily within sports. Andrew’s mentorship continues to shape my definition of leadership today. He would spend three to four hours per day with me on Zoom, giving me a peek into how he thinks, allowing me to shadow his internal and external meetings, and coaching me as a person and professional. Andrew took a personal stake in my development, sharing with me texts that have shaped his understanding of the world and never leaving one of my many questions unanswered. He saw my curiosity and rewarded it in full. As I lead teams and coach direct reports today, I always think back to Andrew. I focus on getting to know others as people, finding what makes them insatiably curious, and leveraging that drive to bring out the best in them. Andrew taught me that.
— Alex Mazer ’22
My most transformative SEP was my Professional Experience at North Carolina Integrated Care for Kids (NC InCK), under the guidance of Dr. Charlene Wong ’04. I contacted Dr. Wong for mentorship after her SEVEN Talk during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of our first phone call, I vividly remember her asking me, “Do you want to work with me this summer?” I knew this was a learning opportunity I could not miss. During my time at NC InCK, I primarily worked on the alternative payment model. This provided me the opportunity to collaborate with health systems leaders, pediatricians, Medicaid Managed Care Organizations, and the North Carolina State Medicaid office. The rigorous, fast-paced health policy work was initially quite challenging. I was learning new vocabulary and health systems concepts every day. Charlene patiently guided me through various deliverables and reminded me that lifelong learning will always be part of my journey as a physician and researcher. I was deeply inspired by my time at NC InCK and completed my senior honors thesis on a behavioral health component of the model. This summer was the most transformative for me because of the incredible mentorship I received from both Charlene and Madhu Vulimiri ’14 as well as the unique opportunity to engage in the area of work that I now believe to be my life’s calling—which is to design health policy solutions that advance health equity and improve the well-being of all children and families.
I am eternally grateful to the Morehead-Cain Foundation for building such connections with our inspiring alumni and providing their full-fledged support of our Summer Enrichment endeavors.
—Ananya Tadikonda ’23
My summer as an intern with NBCUniversal in Los Angeles was by far my most transformative summer experience. This summer introduced me to the city of Los Angeles, allowed me to get an understanding of the entertainment industry, and jumpstarted my career aspirations. Without the Morehead-Cain, I would’ve been relegated to doing a remote internship, but instead, I got to dive head-first into a new city and experience. Because of that summer, I confirmed that I wanted to pursue entertainment as a career and realized L.A. could be a home. Currently, I live in L.A. and work for NBCUniversal. All of this was made possible by my Morehead-Cain summer enrichment experience.
—Jalen McKoy ’23
Fourth Summer
A MOVE TOWARD THE WORLD
Those Morehead Scholars who have successfully completed Morehead internships in the three preceding summers (outdoor leadership, public safety, private enterprise) may submit a proposal for travel and study abroad to be conducted during the summer prior to their senior year. . . . To plan and complete the travel and study abroad properly should require the initiative, leadership, and independence that the preceding three summer programs were designed to enhance. . . . Those whose proposals are approved will receive a grant designed to cover necessary travel and living expenses for approximately 8 to 10 weeks. The intent of this grant is to allow Morehead Scholars the opportunity to investigate a topic of interest requiring travel outside the United States.
—Excerpt from an early version of the scholar application for the Travel/Study summer
Begun in 1978, the Morehead-Cain international travel experience was modeled on the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, formed in 1961 in honor of the legendary IBM chairman and CEO. The Watson Fellowship was created “to provide Scholars an opportunity for a focused and disciplined Wanderjahr of their own devising—a break in which they might explore with thoroughness a particular interest, test their aspirations and abilities, view their lives and American
society in greater perspective and, concomitantly, develop a more informed sense of international concern.”
Incorporating this theme, the Morehead-Cain international travel summer has sent scholars to practically every corner of the earth to dig into an area of academic, historical, or professional interest. Scholars have customized the summers by choosing either to conduct an independent, in-depth research project or to explore a particular business or organization through an internship. Lasting for as long as twelve weeks, this summer experience—known over the years as Travel/Study, International Research, Inquiry and Exploration, and Independent Research—has cultivated and rewarded intellectual depth and curiosity. The experience is meant to sharpen the scholars’ focus and encourage the investigation of long-held or newly discovered subjects. All scholars participating in this summer are required to maintain contact with the Foundation throughout their travels and, upon their return, write and submit a detailed report describing their experiences and giving an account of funded expenditures.
To ensure significant international exposure for every scholar, the Foundation launched in 2019 an expanded and renamed travel experience summer. The new Global Perspective (GP) summer offers scholars the opportunity to design a global experience of their choice, combining modes of learning such as research, self-study, service, internship, shadowing, or purposeful travel. For the first time in the Summer Enrichment Program’s history, scholars are able to apply for summer study-abroad programs in conjunction with their self-designed global projects. Fifty-two scholars undertook a Global Perspective project in the summer of 2024, traveling and learning in 45 countries across six continents.
The Morehead Foundation posed this question: “What would you propose to tie your studies at Carolina together and bring your understanding of them to a higher level?” I was a classics major and dreamed of visiting the great sites of Ancient Rome and Greece that I had only read about or seen through others’ eyes. I presented an expansive plan to visit pretty much every major city in Europe. It was my first overseas trip, and, with two other scholars, I traveled by plane, train, boat, foot, bus, and any other means necessary on a voyage from London to Istanbul with predictable stops in Paris, Rome, Florence, Athens, etc. I learned how to survive on a (tight!) budget, how to figure out where it was safe and affordable to stay, and how to soak in so many firsts with genuine wonder. Parts of my soul were formed on that trip—encouraging a lifelong passion for exploration and for the arts that has never left me. That essential curiosity is one of the many shared passions I have with my wife and seems to have been passed down to our children as an add-on bonus! Life’s journey has seen me live in London, and I’ve been fortunate to be able to return again and again to those same cities, and more than once to stand at some intersection and feel that I’m standing alongside my 1979 self, observing, soaking it all in, and grateful.
—Jim Alexandre ’79
My Foundation-funded Travel/Study took place in South America (December 1980 to March 1981) and focused on understanding food and nutrition programs in Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Colombia that were meant to alleviate malnutrition. From my journey, I gained a greater appreciation of trying to understand other cultures as an outsider, made a start on professional work in a foreign language (principally in Spanish for many years), and took a step towards a career using analysis to understand international development challenges and solutions. The trip opened my eyes to the gift my parents had given me of being able to feel connected to the ones I loved though I was far away from home. I also inherited a lifelong love of Brazilian music. After my travel, I did a research assignment with IFPRI, a leading institution on policies and programs to address food and nutrition problems, to assess the nutrition impact of transitions from subsistence farming. My Travel/Study, IFPRI experience, and the recommendation I got from my IFPRI supervisor opened the door to a fellowship and study for my PhD in Economics at Vanderbilt University. My thematic focus pivoted from nutrition to environment, but my international development interests continued. In the past 30+ years I’ve worked on the design, implementation, technical analysis, and evaluation of programs and projects on environment and natural resources, climate change, agriculture, food security and malnutrition, water resources, energy, infrastructure, sanitation and hygiene, and rural development in Asia, Africa, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Pacific.
—Greg Michaels ’80
Do the hardest thing you can do.” That was the pivotal piece of advice I got from a mentor as I talked about my travel summer planning and my goal to tie together my nascent Spanish studies and international studies and journalism majors. In the late 1990s for me that was Cuba. I spent four weeks living in a bedroom normally rented out to a University of Havana student, existing as Cubans did (albeit with access to the dollars I brought), exploring the city in the companionship of University of Havana faculty and staff. It was physically demanding (I still remember the shock of AC when I got back to Miami at the end of the summer), linguistically challenging, and despite its geographic proximity, culturally and politically, the farthest I had ever been from home. The night before I returned to North Carolina, my landlady, a Santeria practitioner, performed a blessing and read my fortune. As she looked ahead at my life, she said, “you will live over oceans, but always be home.” Prophetic indeed as just three years later, I started my career as a U.S. diplomat, a lifestyle that has routinely given me the chance to draw on lessons learned across all the summer experiences, far beyond just the great classroom education I received at Carolina.
—Ben Ousley Naseman ’96
Ihave vivid memories of tasting fresh asab (sugarcane) or tamr hind (tamarind) juice from the local fruit vendor in Cairo, Egypt, as part of my morning routine. The call to prayer five times a day, signaling the recommended moments of reflecting on God’s gifts to mankind, still rings in my ears. I remember the smell of falafel cooking as I spent hours talking to my Egyptian neighbors, who were anxious to practice their English and hear all about my American adventures.
Although I went to Egypt alone, I very quickly felt a connection to this ancient land. I often relive the pride I felt when seeing the unbelievably well-preserved Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut that still has colored hieroglyphics depicting pharaohs and physicians who looked like me. I was awestruck by the beauty of the Mediterranean Sea as its powerful waves crashed against the Lighthouse of Alexandria. I danced on a cruise down the Nile River while learning about the cradle of civilization. I laugh inside picturing the modern Fiats weaving around farmers on mule-powered wagons. My friend and I watched a meteor shower on a clear night in Hurghada, where we got our scuba certification in the Red Sea. Those three months felt like a self-contained lifetime.
That scorching summer opened the world up to me, making me a global citizen. Strangers approached me calling me “Brother” and literally escorted me places whenever I got lost. Now when I see conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, I empathize differently. I feel a deeper connection to “the Motherland.” I will definitely return with my family.
—Benjeil Edghill ’98
My Global Perspective summer in Mexico City, Medellín, Lima, and Cusco has been one of the most transformational experiences of my life. Growing up, my connection to my heritage was defined by short phone calls to my grandparents in Mexico, where I would update them on my progress in school. This summer, however, I had the invaluable opportunity to meet my grandparents and share with them my growing interest in education.
Working with the Latin American Leadership Academy—a nonprofit dedicated to fostering a new generation of diverse, entrepreneurial, and ethical leaders across the region—further deepened this connection. It allowed me to engage directly with communities while grappling with complex questions surrounding educational access and talent identification. Alongside this meaningful work, I had the chance to explore new cuisines, hike Machu Picchu, and connect with inspiring students and coworkers throughout Latin America.
As a recent graduate, the question of what I might contribute to the world was daunting. However, my GP summer provided me with the audacity to imagine the many possibilities that lie ahead. I left Latin America with a renewed sense of purpose, ready to explore how I might authentically serve the communities I care about and engage in ideas and opportunities that inspire me. Ultimately, this summer granted me the confidence to chart a path forward that aligns with my values and aspirations while contributing meaningfully to the world around me.
—Melanie Godinez-Cedillo ’22
The two-man arctic geology research expedition transformed my life.
My UNC housemate and I rode a bush plane 300 miles from a remote Alaskan village (Coldfoot, population 35) with alpine rock-climbing gear, a month’s supply of food, and the objective of climbing the Arctic Circle’s “Half Dome.” We planned on collecting rock samples every hundred feet to track glaciation for my honors thesis. From scientific preparation and grant writing to technical climbing and medical training, the expedition preparation took a monumental effort. It encouraged me to think originally about how my skills and interests might unlock unique opportunities: it taught me, quite literally, how to chart a new path.
The expedition itself was the most physically and mentally exhausting experience of my life by an order of magnitude, and one of my passions in life is racing Ironmans. That’s saying something. The platter of adversity included heavy rain, rock fall, 120-pound packs, high-water crossings, dense bushwhacking, being charged by a grizzly bear, arctic wolves, mosquitoes, and not nearly enough food. The grueling physical challenge was punctuated with moments of unspeakable natural beauty in a pristine, delicate arctic wilderness.
You all did an OL summer, so I won’t linger on the very similar personal growth I experienced from a wilderness whooping. I crawled out of the Arctic with a deep calling to move the needle on climate change.
I’m finally off belay from the Arctic Cliffs and learning about the wild world of the green energy transition and how I can effectively serve our planet with software. I am now co-founding a climate-tech startup, MAIA Analytics, to do exactly this.
—Andrew Buchanan ’23
My most transformative summer experience was my Global Perspective summer, where I participated in an eight-week marine conservation project in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. With a passion for the ocean and an interest in marine science, I made the most of this opportunity to explore a potential career in the field. However, the most significant impact of my summer was not professional insights but was instead deeply personal.
Living remotely on a small island with limited connection to the outside world, I was given the space to pause and reflect on my aspirations without the usual distractions and pressures of school. This isolation allowed me to focus, read, meditate, and journal, fostering a deeper understanding of myself. I established a daily meditation routine, practicing with the sunrise and sunset, which became a cornerstone of my personal growth.
This experience taught me to approach problems with a calm and clear mind, evaluate my feelings thoughtfully, and listen to my inner voice. Surrounded by some of the most pristine beauty I had ever seen, I learned to be fully present in the moment. The practice I developed that summer has continued to be a vital part of my life, shaping my perspective and enhancing my ability to navigate challenges. The time and separation this summer provided allowed me to uncover a profound sense of clarity and purpose, leaving a lasting impact on both my personal and professional goals.
—Nina Fisher ’24
Conclusion
TRULY INSPIRED, PRACTICALLY GROUNDED
For 50 years, the Morehead-Cain Summer Enrichment Program has been the gateway to life-changing off-campus experiences for the program’s scholars—experiences as diverse as their personal dreams and as meaningful as their professional aspirations. The original vision of Alan Dickson and the trustees—to provide the young people entrusted to the Foundation with advantageous summer opportunities that complement their university curriculum—has undergone many innovations through the decades, in no small part through the creative contributions of generations of scholars and alumni seeking to alter and improve the program and its offerings.
Today, Morehead-Cain Scholars continue to take on new roles and challenges each undergraduate summer, uncovering previously hidden talents and finding unique ways to better both themselves and the world around them. By design, the person planning and executing a Global Perspective summer is not the same as the one who signed up for an Outward Bound course three years before. The four distinct yet connected experiences of the Summer Enrichment Program stand as a crucial and transformative component of scholars’ college years—as relatively short periods of extraordinary personal endeavor and growth that resonate across their lives long after graduation day.
