History of Levis Leadership
Originally called "Leadership UT," the Levis Leadership program started in the fall of 1994 with 48 incoming freshmen selected from over 700 applicants. Students selected for the program enrolled for the College Student Leadership course for both semesters of their freshman year.
Because of Dr. Frank Horton, 13th president of The University of Toledo, additional support was provided for students who committed to being involved in leadership education for their sophomore, junior, and senior years. The program has grown from an initial one-year leadership program to a comprehensive four-year leadership development experience for those students who commit themselves to the additional education and training.
In Fall 2001, the J. Preston Levis Scholarship began being used to fund the scholarships for students participating in the Leadership UT program. At that point, the scholarship name changed to the Levis Leadership Scholarship. In addition, the name of the program was changed from Leadership UT (LUT for short) to Levis Leadership UT. In Summer 2019, The University of Toledo rebranded from UT to UToledo. At the same time, the program rebranded to align with the change and is now known as Levis Leadership (Levis for short).
In Fall 2017, the Leadership Living Learning Community began.
Over the years, several UToledo staff members have overseen the Levis Leadership program, including but not limited to Lori Edgeworth, Tracci (Harmon) Johnson, Darci Ault, Tony Urbina, Tamika Mitchell, and Donovan Nichols (August 2015 - present).