Salem College Hosts Women’s College Convening on Character
On February 10, representatives from five women-serving institutions gathered at Salem College for a Women’s Colleges Convening on Gender, Leadership, Ethics, and Character. This convening included participants from Agnes Scott College, Cedar Crest College, Hollins University, Salem College, and Spelman College and was one part of Salem’s year-long Capacity-Building grant. Salem College’s Diane Lipsett, Director of the Engaging Ethics Program, and JaNae Joyner, President’s Chief of Staff, hosted the event.
“Throughout the day, we learned from one another’s programs, honoring the distinctive standpoints and collective voice of women’s colleges,” said organizer and ECI grant P.I., Diane Lipsett.
ECI Senior Research Scholar & Associate Director of Partnerships, Emily Hunt-Hinojosa, and ECI Scholar of Character, Elizabeth Whiting, led a focused morning workshop titled “Character Education, Perhaps by Other Names.” The primary aim of the workshop was to give participants a structured way of seeing the kinds of character education goals and methods they’re already implicitly pursuing on their campuses, in order to empower them to do that work more purposefully.
Throughout the day, we learned from one another’s programs, honoring the distinctive standpoints and collective voice of women’s colleges.
“We explored how and to what extent character education (perhaps by another name) is or could be woven into our respective programs in leadership, ethics, or vocational discernment,” said Lispsett. “The engaged, probing dialogue with Liz and Emily yielded insights and questions. One participant noted how productive it was to reflect on her program in relation to the ‘moral teloi’’ of her institution. Another raised the urgent question, ‘How can we prepare our students for the costs of courage or other virtues?’ Throughout, we explored whether women-serving institutions have a distinctive, critical contribution to bring to character education.”
