What’s New
- 🗣 We are hosting a post-election event called, Living in Ambiguous Times: A Leadership and Character Open House, on Wednesday, November 6 from 1-4 PM in Starling Hall. Join us for refreshments in a space for conversation and reflection.
- 💰The Travel for Interdisciplinary and Community Engaged Learning (TICEL) Travel Grant application is now open to faculty in the graduate and professional schools! EXTENDED DEADLINE Applications are due November 25, 2024, apply today!
- 💻 If you are still looking to fill out your schedule for next semester, learn more about our Leadership and Character spring course offerings here.
- 📚 Read more about the idea and purpose behind our longest-running discussion group, “What is College For?”, which will return next semester.
- 📣 Join us for our major conference, Educating Character Across Differences: Cultivating Communities of Character in the University, December 5-7, 2024, at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, hosted by the ECI on behalf of our Program.
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:
Receive regular updates on events and happenings:
“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
Who We Are
The Program for Leadership and Character consists of faculty and staff from a diverse group of disciplines and backgrounds who study and assess leadership and character, as well as students who take on the important and challenging work of developing their leadership and character. Our Educating Character Initiative (ECI) is creating a community of educators interested in character on campuses across the country and world.
What We Do
We help faculty at Wake Forest and beyond educate leadership and character in the classroom and across their campuses. We work directly with students through our Scholars and Ambassadors programs, as well as through courses, fellowships, discussion groups, retreats, and special events. We spark public conversations and collaborate with others across the world. And we strive to educate leadership and character in ways that reflect Wake Forest’s motto, Pro Humanitate.
How We Do It
We put character at the center of leadership and ground our Program’s initiatives in seven research-based strategies for developing character. Because character education is not a one-size-fits-all approach, we find value and strength in engaging diverse ideas and partners. And we rigorously assess outcomes to learn what works and how we can improve.
Stories From Our Program
Over the weekend, we led our fourth annual Black Women’s Leadership Retreat in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Led by our Assistant Director of Programming, Jazz Logan, this retreat was open to all Black women, non-binary, and trans students at Wake Forest University. It was an opportunity for students to relax and connect with one another. During the retreat, participants enjoyed a weekend of fun while engaging in deep conversations and building community with each other. “One of the things that I hope the students takeaway is that they deserve to find rest, even when things get super busy,” says Logan. “I hope that they know that they are enough.”
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.
Last week, we held an initiation ceremony for our new cohort of Leadership and Character Scholars. During the ceremony, the Scholars were recognized for their work and dedication to developing their character. They also took an oath and received a pin with our Program’s logo as a symbol of their commitment to develop virtue and serve humanity. “Scholars, as you embrace the courage of your character, know that all of us here stand ready to offer our hands of friendship, solidarity, and support,” said Dr. Michael Lamb, our Program’s executive director. “The world needs your leadership and character now more than ever. We cannot wait to see the work of your many hands.”
Join @wakecomm for a talk by Texas A&M Historian of Political Rhetoric, Professor of Communication and Journalism, Dr. Jennifer Mercieca on Thursday, October 24 from 5-6:15 p.m. in Pugh Auditorium.
This program is co-sponsored by Wake Forest Department of Communication, The Department of African-American Studies, The Program for Leadership and Character, The Journalism Program, The Department of History, The Department of Politics & International Affairs, and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
It’s all about how you rebound! Join us on Thursday, October 24 from 12-4 p.m. on Manchester Plaza for the Rebound From Setbacks: Academic Resources and Resilience Carnival. This event is an opportunity for students to learn about the free on-campus academic resources that are available to help you succeed. There will be games, prizes and more. We hope to see you there!
❓all answers must be in the form of a question
sign up for interest groups by october 16 at the link in our bio
#Community is the central thread that brings together the new and existing Leadership and Character in the Law Cohort members. This year’s new students describe just how meaningful the cohort is to them and what they look forward to experiencing alongside their fellow members as they progress through law school. #ProHumanitate
The Lam Museum of Anthropology’s annual celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day will feature a screening of “Bring Them Home / Aiskótáhkapiyaaya” on Sunday, October 13, at 4 p.m. at the Kulynych Auditorium in the Byrum Welcome Center. The film tells the story of a small group of Blackfeet people and their mission to establish the first wild buffalo herd on their ancestral territory since the species’ near-extinction a century ago.
The film will be followed by a discussion with National Impact Producer Candice Dalsing and CEO of Blackfeet ECO Knowledge Tyson Running Wolf. The event will end with a reception catered by Native Root. We hope to see you there!
Come see Dr. Donovan Livingston (@dlive87) on Monday, September 23rd from 6-7 p.m. in the auditorium at the Porter Byrum Auditorium at @wfuniversity. The event, “‘I’ma put the lil homies on next’: Mixtape methodology and meaning making through hip-hop literacy,” is free and open to the public. Students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members are all welcome.
This event is part of the Leadership, Equity, & Education Speaker Series. It’s hosted by the EDU Student Leadership Council, and co-sponsored by the Wake Forest’s Department of Education, the Center for Literacy Education, the African American Studies Program, the Program for Leadership and Character, Wake the Arts, the Department of Music, ZSR Library, and the Humanities Institute.
Earlier this month, Assistant Director of Curriculum and Pedagogical Design Nancy Winfrey partnered with the @wfulawschool to create a program that would welcome back our second year law students and provide them with the tools to #flourish as students and as individuals.
Dr. Dan Henry, Assistant Teaching Professor in African American Studies, is teaching a course called Organic Leadership: Lessons from the Black Freedom Struggle. The course focuses on the history of African American philosophies of democratic citizenship and leadership. Here, Dr. Henry talks about Ida B. Wells, one of the thinkers his class is learning about this semester.
This past weekend, Wake Forest graduate and professional students went to Montreat for the Human/Nature Retreat (formerly the Flourishing Retreat) where they took mindful forest walks, created nature art, and participated in a nature writing workshop to build a stronger human-nature connection. Research shows that time spent in nature can make people happier, healthier, and possibly kinder by reducing stress, inspiring gratitude, stimulating creativity, and promoting social cooperation.