Staley School of Leadership

Snyder Leadership Legacy Fellows

About

The Snyder Leadership Legacy Fellows is a year-long program for students entering into their final year at Kansas State University. Students are selected each spring to deepen their knowledge of leadership, connect with mentors to explore the transition from student to professional life, elevate their passion for service, and experience real-world opportunities to exercise leadership skills.

Snyder Fellows experience personal and professional development rooted in Coach Snyder’s 16 Goals for Success. The ultimate goal of the program is to develop change agents on campus, in the community, throughout the state and beyond.

Apply

Applications for the 2025-26 academic year will open in December 2024. Stay tuned!

 

Annual activities and events

  • May retreat: Kickoff the program in May with an all-intensive retreat. Fellows get an overview of the history of the program, build on leadership and professional development, interact with K-State football alumni and establish a sense of community.
  • Monthly meetings: Participate in meetings to continue building community and focus on leadership/professional development through guest speakers (athletes, scholars, and business leaders) and workshops.
  • Coaching: Fellows will be paired with a peer coach to meet with monthly. Coaching sessions are focused on the transition from college to career. Coaches might be alumni, faculty members or professionals from around the nation.
  • Youth mentoring: Partner with Manhattan Parks and Recreation to provide youth coaching for the local community. Fellows work in coaching teams to mentor players in various sports for eight to ten weeks of the fall semester.
  • Ambassadors: Serve as ambassadors at events involving the Staley School of Leadership and Coach Snyder’s legacy. Responsibilities range from attending as guests to volunteer assistance.
  • Service-learning: Uphold Coach Snyder’s values of service and community through service-learning experiences in Manhattan, Kansas, and surrounding midwestern communities.
  • Coffee talks with Coach Snyder: Fellows engage in small group conversation with Coach Bill Snyder. Fellows help drive conversation with questions regarding Coach Snyder’s legacy and other topics relevant to their growth and development.

Support Snyder Leadership Legacy Fellows

 

More about the program

Coach Bill Snyder, long-time head coach of the Kansas State University football program, continues to have an exemplary career resulting in his selection multiple times as National and Conference Coach of the Year. Over his career, Coach Snyder developed and implemented his 16 Goals for Success, a system consisting of leadership principles, practices, and programming that led to a successful program for his players and the university – on and off the field. His 16 Goals for Success have been embraced by many as guiding principles for success in life – in family, community, and career.

An early supporter of the Staley School of Leadership and a founding member of the Staley School’s Advancement Council, Coach Snyder has helped guide and support an emerging, innovative idea into a thriving program – a natural partner for the Snyder Leadership Legacy Fellows program. The program strives to prepare students for the transition from college to career and for engagement as lifelong leaders.

The Snyder Leadership Legacy Fellows program will:
  • Provide a leadership development opportunity rooted in Coach Snyder's 16 Goals for Success, to top students of Kansas State University.
  • Provide an opportunity to engage in a leadership dialogue with Coach Snyder.
  • Purposefully connect students to community and business leaders, successful athletes and scholars along with peers who all share an interest in exercising leadership in their lives.
  • Provide tools and resources that will aid students in working toward a common goal, with others, as a team, in a competitive environment.
  • Raise the visibility, importance, and expectations of leadership in action, during and after a student's formal education.
  • Elevate students' passion for service, encouraging and connecting them with resources capable of transforming visions into actions that make a difference in the world in which they live.

Coach Snyder is a developer of leaders, whose legacy continues to have a tremendous impact far beyond the game of football. The Staley School of Leadership and K-State Athletics honor Coach Snyder’s leadership legacy in a manner that, like his understanding of leadership, serves individuals and communities broadly.

The Staley School will continue Coach Snyder’s efforts by extending to new audiences the opportunity for personal and professional leadership development that he has so generously provided to those with whom he works and lives. The Snyder Fellows and this program will continue Coach Snyder’s work in leadership development for future generations.