What’s New

  • 📣 Thank you to everyone who attended our Educating Character Across Differences: Cultivating Communities of Character in the University. Here’s an excerpt from a presentation by Irshad Manji, bestselling author, educator, and founder of the Moral Courage College:
@leadershipandcharacter

Irshad Manji opened day one of our Educating Character Across Differences Conference at @Wake Forest University with a presentation entitled “Moral Courage for Messy Times.” Among other things, she talked about why speaking truth to power may involve speaking to your own ego. Manji is a bestselling author, an educator, and founder of Moral Courage College. #ECIconf

♬ original sound – leadershipandcharacter
Program for Leadership and Character logo

Our Vision

To inspire, educate, and empower leaders of character at Wake Forest and at colleges and universities across the world.

Our Mission

To use innovative teaching, creative programming, and cutting-edge research to help transform the lives of students, foster an inclusive culture of leadership and character on college campuses, and catalyze a broader public conversation that places character at the center of leadership.

Get Involved

Here’s how you can become directly involved with our Program as a Wake Forest student, or as a faculty or staff member at Wake Forest and other institutions across the country:


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“An education that shapes the whole person is both necessary and desired in our world. The Program is vital to our ability to meet this moment and produce leaders for a better future.”

Wake Forest President Susan R. Wente
Michael Lamb giving a presentation.

Scholars Initiation Ceremony in 2023

discussion group meeting with students


Stories From Our Program

Rajiv Vinnakota, the president of the Institute for Citizens & Scholars, spoke during a panel discussion on the final day of our “Educating Character Across Differences” conference. Among other things, he spoke about the importance of creating a space to make mistakes.

Vinnakota was joined by John Inazu and Rachel Wahl. Emily Hunt-Hinjosa moderated the panel.

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@realirshadmanji opened day one of our Educating Character Across Differences Conference at @wfuniversity with a presentation entitled “Moral Courage for Messy Times.” Among other things, she talked about why speaking truth to power may involve speaking to your own ego.

Manji is a bestselling author, an educator, and founder of Moral Courage College (@moral_courage). #ECIconf

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Talon Keeler (‘26) shares her thoughts after moderating the student-led conversation with acclaimed novelist @jesmynward.

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We are excited to welcome acclaimed novelist Jesmyn Ward to Wake Forest University tomorrow to speak at the Face to Face Speaker Forum and launch our “Educating Character Across Differences” conference at The Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University. Doors open at 5pm for the 6pm conversation in Wait Chapel. The event is free and open to the public and we expect a full house, so we recommend arriving early. Hope to see you there!
@jesmynward @facetofacewfu @wfuniversity #jesmynward #facetofacewfu #wfu

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Our Kenneth Townsend was on @wxii12news this morning talking about the @facetofacewfu Speaker Forum with novelist Jesmyn Ward. Townsend will moderate the event, which takes place Thursday at 6 p.m. inside Wait Chapel at @wfuniversity. Doors open at 5. It’s a free event but we’re expecting a big crowd, so you’re encouraged to get there early.

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Next week, we are hosting a panel discussion and book launch for “The Arts of Leading: Perspectives from the Humanities and the Liberal Arts.” Join us on Monday, December 2 at 4:30 p.m. in the Kulynych Auditorium at the Porter Byrum Welcome Center at Wake Forest University. The editors of “The Arts of Leading,” Michael Lamb (Wake Forest University) and Edward Brooks (University of Oxford), will introduce a panel discussion among several of the book’s contributors. The panel will be moderated by Michele Gillespie, Provost and Presidential Endowed Chair of Southern History at Wake Forest University. A reception will follow. We hope to see you there!

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Last week, the Program partnered with Wake Law and the Legal Writing Institute to host the Clerkship College Conference where judges and clerks alike shared their experiences with our students. The final session on “What is Needed to Flourish as a Judicial Clerk” was held in-person with a panel of lawyers and judges, including Associate Justice Tamara Barringer of the North Carolina Supreme Court and Judge Michael Robinson of the North Carolina Business Court. The panel was moderated by Marin Bennerotte, a student in our Leadership and Character in the Law Cohort.

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Next Wednesday, we are hosting a post-election event called, Living in Ambiguous Times: A Leadership and Character Open House between 1–4 PM in Starling Hall. Join us if you would like to come together with others to ponder the future, process your anxieties, or feel supported in your questioning. We will have snacks and be holding space for conversation and reflection.

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