The Educating Character Initiative
What’s New at the ECI
- 🔮 What’s on the horizon for the ECI? Join ECI leadership for a conversation on May 21 about what we’re learning from the good work occurring in the ECI Community and to hear about new opportunities.
- 🏈 “Sports don’t automatically build character — they shape it, for better or worse.” A growing field is taking that seriously. A diverse group of coaches, athletic directors, trainers, and academics came together to discuss the challenges and opportunities of promoting character development in college sports.
- 🤔 What do students think about character education? ECI researchers ran a study to find out.
- 💡 Read the ECI 2025 Project Brief, a snapshot of our shared work and its direction, reflecting our community’s collective efforts and commitment to forming students, institutions, and cultures shaped by character for the common good.
The Educating Character Initiative equips institutions of higher education with the resources, funding, and support necessary to integrate character education into their distinctive institutional contexts, curricula, and cultures. We foster a robust network that recognizes the value of educating character within higher education.
Learn about Our Programs
Community Building
Join our community, learn from other educators, and engage with us about your resources and your ideas.
Grantmaking
Learn about our grantmaking, which supports institutions engaged in efforts to strengthen the understanding, integration, and education of character at U.S. colleges and universities.
Collective Learning
Join our webinars, book club, and trainings to learn how to integrate character education into your unique academic contexts and curricula.
Work with Our ECI Team
Connect with our Educating Character Initiative staff for individualized support.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to help others plant the seeds of character education, and we all benefit as those efforts continue to grow.”
Jennifer Rothschild, Executive Director of the Educating Character Initiative
A project of the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University, the ECI was founded in 2023 through the generous support of Lilly Endowment Inc.