Put your stamp on Principia College. It’s not hard, but it requires your initiative. No matter what your specific interests are, you can find a way to put your stamp on the world.

Leadership positions abound on campus — in student government, sports teams, teaching assistantships, and other activities — but Principia students seem to like spearheading new projects, clubs, and other ventures. Run for student government, where students actually give input on big projects aided by Principia’s Annual Fund, including the Out of Bounds game room renovations and lights on the soccer field.

Or be a leader off campus. Two Principia students served as Supreme Court justices at the intercollegiate Illinois Moot Court competition — and Principia pairs placed first and third as attorneys arguing a Fourth Amendment search and seizure case. A Principia senior was voted Outstanding Attorney. Go to Washington, D.C., to represent Principia at the Model U.S. House of Representatives to debate and network with hundreds of college students from around the country. A more unusual option: A student on a Principia Abroad group to Mongolia was asked to join that country’s national basketball team, but he chose to return home to find his leadership niche.

The Principia Public Affairs Conference — everyone calls it PAC — is the longest running student-run public affairs conference in the U.S. Don’t confuse PAC with politics. It’s your daily life, public affairs, that you’re shaping when you’re a delegate or PAC board member. And you can put it on your resume.

Plus, Principia alumni are the basis for an extensive network of internship and career contacts. One student admits, “A key reason why I’m here is that alumni appreciate the graduates of Principia. They know what to expect — greatness — from a Principia graduate. Alumni are well connected and can serve as a major springboard for students.”

When Cory Sprague returned to Principia from a year at American University, where she had been involved with the Genocide Intervention Network and the Save Darfur Coalition, she wanted to continue to be active in outreach to the world. But she didn’t know what Principia group would best help her achieve her goals. She spearheaded the resurgence of Principia’s Amnesty International chapter, whose activities exemplify the assertion that “prayer is the most effective means of ending human rights abuses.” She organized several activities to spread the word about the Darfur crisis and find solutions.

During Darfur Awareness Week and beyond, Cory and her group organized on-campus discussion groups, a prayer vigil, and a Darfur Awareness Walk in Alton. Amnesty International invited a refugee from Chad to speak at Principia and also offered movie screenings on Darfur, global warming, and child soldiers in Uganda.

Cory keeps busy, but not too busy to accept the 2007 Humanitarian Award from the nearby New Bethel Rocky Fork AME Church, a storied church that was part of the Underground Railroad a century and a half ago.

One of her classmates points out: “You can still support someone even if you’re not in their geographic region. It’s cool having groups like Amnesty International around and how they do everything that they can from a little community like Elsah to help a region like Darfur. You can actually interact with the world more by setting your own thought straight.”