SCRIPT“I said, from the start, I am creating everything in this school that I would have wanted for myself- so the girls will have the absolute best that my imagination can offer”Leadership Academy and 7 Fountains

I will now speak about the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. Oprah built this state-of-the-art academy to provide the girls with a place that inspired them to dream beyond what their life had previously shown them, to let them experience what the world has to offer. She also built the academy to change the way a culture feels about what women can do and to also make good her promise to Nelson Mandela in Dec 2000 that she would build his country a top notch boarding school for disadvantaged girls.However, public criticisms were levied at (1) at Oprah's extravagance and luxury in creating Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy. They labelled it as a “vanity project” as the school had cost over $40 million US dollars yet it educated only about 75 girls per cohort and had non-essential amenities such as a yoga studio and beauty salon. Many suggested Oprah's money could have been used to educate more students if those luxuries were spared and labelled her noble act as “elitist”.In response to the criticisms, our group would like to point out the fact that Oprah was not wrong to have a no expense spared philosophy on African girls. After all she was fighting for a worthy cause she believes in and it was her own money. It is great that she chose a project that is meaningful to her that happens also to improve the lives of others rather than trying to please everyone or keeping her money to herself. Comparisons with Bill Gate who participates in charitable projects for the masses and not on an exclusive basis are unfair because firstly, she does not have the wealth of Bill Gates to do the same and secondly, not everyone has the same purpose in Life.In fact our group feels that Oprah showed several qualities of leadership in doing so. First of all, she showed credibility in following through on her promise to Nelson Mandela to build his country a top notch boarding school. Secondly she displayed strategic leadership, as the timing of her building the school coincided with a growing international consensus about the high value of girl’s education as a tool for development.With regard to critics labelling Oprah’s school as a “vanity project”, we feel that while it is understandable since she named the school after herself, it was also unwarranted. The reason for this was because Oprah’s identification with the impoverished young teenagers of South Africa, and her faith in the transformative power of education, were a direct product of her own life experience. This is in stark contrast to some attention-seeking philanthropists who simply write checks to charities, some of them doing so publicly as a PR stunt for publicity.

Oprah’s genuine desire to connect and help can be seen where she had been a part of each step of the building process-    from helping design the layouts of the structures, to choosing the materials for the dormitories. She also flew down to Africa as the final interviewer to select the initial 152 girls out of more than 3000 applicants.Our group feels that Oprah was correct in quoting “When you have a beautiful environment, it inspires the beauty in you.”  This is evident in schools that have produced great leaders, such as Stanford University, Oxford University or even our own Singapore’s military school for officers/leaders at SAFTI camp. Many students work hard so that they would be able to be able to be part of those beautiful environments that inspires the noble spirit within them. To build such beautiful environments to nurture leaders however takes considerable resources. Oprah, by creating one of the most expensive schools in the world for Black African girls is sending a message to the world that blacks and women are valuable and that is certainly commendable. Who knows what great things Oprah’s little leaders will do for Africa?

Oprah’s critics also took issue with the racial makeup of her school and the fact that it was exclusive to girls. Our group feels that Oprah showed courage to go against the grain by choosing to be exclusive to girls only and help African children as opposed to American children. After all according to UNICEF, “girls and women are accorded lower social status and find themselves under the control and authority of men”

Next, our group feels that Oprah is a great role model because she leads by example. This can be seen when she stepped forward and took the HIV test in front of all the students so that they too would not be afraid of following suit. Soon after her Academy opened, a scandal took place when a woman working as a dormitory matron at the school was accused of abusing teenagers. Oprah took ownership by responding immediately and accepting full responsibility. She flew to South Africa to handle the situation herself and began to make changes in the staff while at the same time apologizing to the students and their parents at an emergency meeting tearfully.

If there are any recommendations to be made with regard to her Leadership Academy, our group would recommend Oprah to downplay her wealth by not naming the Leadership Academy after herself. Not giving off an impression of vanity would allow people to be more receptive to her influence. Secondly our group feels that she could revise the school’s strict rules by allowing family members to visit their children more often and not at such a strict rigid basis. We feel that if Oprah is looking at the whole well-being of her students, she should not compromise their family values for the sake of progress alone.On another note, our group gives credit to Oprah for her foresight and resourcefulness in building the 7 Fountains Primary school. It helped demonstrate that with the same government budget, more could be done for the schools within Africa. Unlike her OWLA, 7 Fountains is a sustainable model that helps serve as an example of what public schools in South Africa can become and thus has a greater effect of positive change for the country over the long run.

In conclusion, we believe that Oprah is ultimately a good leader.Despite the mistakes that she had made, they do not discount the leadership qualities she has displayed in other aspects and it is undeniable that her sole motivation behind her decisions stems from good intentions. Oprah uses her extensive influence to create a positive change and to add value to society while taking responsibility for her actions. Hence our group feels that Oprah’s leadership is praiseworthy and we commend her for her effort to leave the world a better place