July 10, 2015
President John Garvey and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser welcomed District of Columbia youth to Catholic University on July 8. Bowser was on campus to speak to teenagers attending the weeklong Marion Barry Youth Leadership Institute (MBYLI) being held on campus this summer. President Garvey attended Bowser's talk and was invited on stage to greet the MBYLI participants.
MBYLI was founded in 1979 as a year-round program to train the city's young people in the concepts of leadership and self-development.
One of the aims of the program is to expose teenagers to a college environment. Some of the students involved in the program stayed in Opus Hall during the institute, which has been held at Catholic University in past summers.
The MBYLI training model emphasizes practical, hands-on experience and a holistic approach to developing leaders for the 21st century. Each year, 150 young people participate in the year-round program and 350 youth participate in the Summer Training Program. Thousands of D.C. youth have received leadership training to date.