What’s New
Here’s how Wake Forest students and others can plug in to Leadership and Character:
- 🗣 Announcement: Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded Wake Forest a $30.7 million grant to support our Program and create a national higher education network devoted to educating character. Read the full story here.
- 📒 Find out first-hand what it means to really engage with people who are different from you. Students can learn more and apply for our Principled Pluralism Fellowship here.
- 🎤 A Conversation with Cornel West kicked off our Educating Character Across the University Conference. Listen to Cornel West’s thoughts on character here.
- 📚 2021 Principled Pluralism fellow Alice Hauser has been named a Rhodes Scholar. Read the full story here.
- 🎬 “Other People Matter” Watch or listen to our Program’s entire conversation with TV writer and producer Michael Schur here.
- 💼 We’re Hiring! The Program is expanding, thanks to an $8.6 M grant from the Kern Family Foundation. See open positions here.
Receive regular updates on events and happenings:
Our Mission
The Program for Leadership and Character inspires, educates, and empowers leaders of character to serve humanity. Through innovative teaching, creative programming, and cutting-edge research, we aim to transform the lives of students, foster an inclusive culture of leadership and character at Wake Forest, and catalyze a broader public conversation that places character at the center of leadership.
Over the last decade, Wake Forest faculty have become leading experts in the study of character. The Program for Leadership and Character is now using this groundbreaking research to develop creative, liberal arts-based programming to transform the lives of our students.
We are excited to share who we are and what we aspire to do. We hope you will join us in this effort.
Courses
We teach courses on leadership and character and equip others to develop relevant courses.
College Programming
Our outside-the-classroom programs equip students to develop the character needed to lead with integrity.
Professional Schools
Our efforts in the professional schools prepare students to be leaders and professionals of character.
Conferences
We host conferences to facilitate broader reflection on leadership and character beyond Wake Forest.
C2C
Learn more about yourself and others through a Call to Conversation.
Research
We use rigorous research to assess our programs and share our results.
Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded @wfuniversity a $30.7 million grant to support the Program for Leadership and Character and create a national higher education network devoted to educating character.
“We believe focusing on character can help many colleges and universities realize their aspirations to educate the whole person and generate the knowledge, capacity and character that our students will need to live and lead well in the 21st century,” said Michael Lamb (@k.michael.lamb), executive director of Wake Forest’s Program for Leadership and Character, F.M. Kirby Foundation Chair of Leadership and Character and associate professor of interdisciplinary humanities.
In addition to supporting the creative programming and cutting-edge research taking place at Wake Forest University, the grant will dramatically extend the impact of that work nationwide by helping public and private colleges and universities across the country develop and strengthen their own character education initiatives.
President Susan R. Wente“Universities are called to be catalysts for good in our society,” said Wake Forest President Susan R. Wente (@presidentwente). “With this unique and truly significant investment from Lilly Endowment, Wake Forest will lead broader public conversations across higher education that place character at the center of leadership, and become a national resource for supporting colleges and universities across the country in developing their capacity to educate character.”
You can read more about the grant and its impact by tapping on the link in our bio.
Gotta catch 'em all
Dr. Bradley Burroughs shares some of the topics we will explore in our discussion group, “Who Are We and Why Are We Here?” Interested in attending? Click the link in our bio to sign up by January 18.
Have you ever thought about questions like “Who Are We and Why Are We Here?” If so this one’s for you. Join us for our discussion group where we provide a space for you to ask the big questions. Tell a friend to bring a friend as we focus on issues of purpose, service, rest, and leadership. Click the link in our bio to sign up by January 18th!
How have @brothercornelwest’s thoughts on character changed since he was in college? We asked him after his public conversation at Wait Chapel. Dr. West’s address kicked off our Educating Character conference at @wfuniversity.
Leadership and Character Scholars Helen Haile (‘23) and Cate Pitterle (‘24) moderated @facetofacewfu Student Forum discussion with @nytimes columnist Tom Friedman this week. They asked the questions, but also heard about the value of listening.
Join us for a Conversation with Cornel West on December 1 at 6 p.m. in Wait Chapel. Dr. Cornel West, the author, activist, philosopher, public intellectual, and civil rights leader will take part in a moderated discussion about character and education. This event is FREE, open to the public, and requires no registration. See you there!
To kickoff the Black Women’s Leadership Retreat, our Associate Director of Programming and Team Building, Raven Scott, hosted A Call to Conversation. A big thank you to everyone who came out to participate this evening!
It’s publication day for our executive director, @k.michael.lamb!
Last week, we held our Leadership and Character Scholars’ Initiation Ceremony. During the ceremony, the scholars were recognized for their dedication to developing their leadership and character. They took an oath and received a pin with our Program’s logo as a symbol of their commitment to develop virtue and serve humanity.
Today was a great day for the Rebound from Setbacks: Academic Resources and Resilience Carnival. Students got to speak with representatives from tutoring and help centers on campus to learn about their resources and play some fun carnival games! #ARAW2022
Hey all! The “Rebound From Setbacks: Academic Resources and Resilience Carnival” is coming up on Thursday! It’s not set up yet, so we did our best to show you what you’ll see and what you can do.
Brought to you by @wfu.class, @wake_sg, and @leadershipandcharacter.