2026 Washburn Leadership Challenge Event

     Topeka, Kan. - The Washburn University Aleshire Center for Leadership & Community Engagement will welcome 200 high school and college students February 26-27 for the 16^th annual Washburn University Leadership Challenge Event^® (WLCE^®). Some of these students are traveling from as far away as Virginia to join this annual two-day leadership competition. The WLCE is the only event of its kind in the U.S., offering students a space to practice the leadership skills they will need when navigating challenges in the real world.

     This year’s competition will feature 38 high school and college teams from four states and with more than 170 volunteers from the Topeka community, including Washburn University faculty, staff and students.

      “We are excited to continue the legacy of the Washburn Leadership Challenge Event for another year and are particularly looking forward to seeing how student participants confront the very relevant simulation topic for this year’s competition,” said Dr. Lauren Edelman, director of the Aleshire Center for Leadership & Community Engagement, Washburn University. “Our students have worked hard to ensure this leadership experience is relevant and meaningful to volunteers and participants alike.”

     The leadership simulation will start at 8 a.m. Friday, February 27 at the Maner Conference Center, 1717 S.W. Topeka Blvd. Students will participate in planning and strategy meetings, written tasks and individual and team leadership decisions. During this time, they will interact with volunteers role-playing as community stakeholders invested in the crisis the students are tasked with solving. Participants are observed by judges who score participants’ leadership acumen on a variety of metrics, including a group presentation defending all their decisions at the conclusion of the exercises.

      Competition concludes with an awards ceremony at 3:45 p.m. in the Emerald Room at Hotel Topeka at City Center. Award sponsors and representatives from the Aleshire Center and Washburn University will recognize champions, second and third place winners in both the high school and college divisions. The Aleshire Center will give awards for exemplary communication, collaboration and transformation of performance from the beginning of the simulation until the end of the simulation.

      This event is student-led, with the student sponsorship team raising $48,500 for this year’s competition, a sponsorship record for the event. These funds help offset event costs and keep registration fees low for participating teams.

      The event was founded in 2011, with 15 teams participating in the inaugural event.

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Editor’s Note:

(*=First Year participating)

College Participants:

- Christopher Newport University (two teams)

- Creighton University

- Fort Hays State University

- Garden City Community College

- Hampden-Sydney College

- Kansas State University

- Midland University

- University of Nebraska-Lincoln 

- Webster University

High School Participants:

- Arkansas City High School

- Bishop Seabury Academy (two teams)

- Burlingame High School*

- Derby High School

- Douglass High School

- Highland Park High School

- Holton High School

- Hugoton High School

- Kaw Valley School District

- Liberty High School (2 teams)

- Liberty North High School* (two teams)

- Northern Heights High School

- Santa Fe Trail High School (two teams)

- Shawnee Heights High School

- Shawnee Mission Northwest High School

- Silver Lake High School

- Topeka High School

- Topeka West High School

- Washburn Rural High School

- Wellington High School

- Wichita Northwest High School

- Wichita South High School

- Winfield High School

- Yates Center High School