2025 Capacity-Building Grant Recipients
Thanks to the support of Lilly Endowment Inc., the Educating Character Initiative (ECI) has awarded 40 new grants of up to $50,000 to 42 institutions seeking to educate and embed character in their distinctive contexts of higher education. We look forward to the ways in which the work of these institutions will deepen collective understanding of character and expand capacity to educate character in undergraduate colleges and universities. Congratulations to these deserving 2025 recipients.
Bard College
Character in Context at Bard College
Nicholas Alton Lewis, Christine Gonzalez Stanton
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon Character Development Initiative
Michael C. Murphy
Carthage College
Virtue, Vocation, Reflection: Creating an integrated curriculum for the development of character at Carthage College
Stephanie Mitchell, Adam Miller-Stubbendick, Joseph Anderson
Claflin University
The Village: Reviving the Legacy of a Visionary Leadership Institute
Jonathan Smalls, LaKerri Mack
Columbia University
Liberatory Learning: Building Character and Community through Collaborative Education
Geraldine Downey, Noah Remnick
Cornell University
Reshaping Higher Education’s Strategy for Community Engagement: Undergraduate Collective Impact Assessment
Basil A. Safi, Richard Kiely
Duke University and North Carolina Central University
Capacity Building for Bridge Internship Program
Luke Powery, Bruce Puckett, Gloria Winston
Emory University
Emory Center for Ethics – Character Education through Courage and Discernment
John Lysaker, Edward Queen, Ira Bedzow, Anne-Elisabeth Courrier
Florida Atlantic University
Wise Owls: Building Character Education for FAU’s Future Environmental Leaders, and Educators
Bryan Nichols, Michelle Petersen
Florida Institute of Technology
Building Core Character: Developing Intellectual Character Virtues through the General Education Core
Andrew Aberdein, Heidi Hatfield Edwards, Lars Jones, Nikki Souris
Friends University
Becoming Friends: Forming Character in Communities of Practice
Lori A. Kanitz
Furman University
What Really Matters?: Exploring Character Education at Furman University
Alexis Carter Thomas, Vaughn Crowe Tipton
Georgetown College
Cultivating Virtues of Love, Justice, and Responsibility: Exploring Character Education at Georgetown College
Shelly P. Johnson and Roger Ward
Gordon College
Intergroup Dialogue Program for Character Formation at Gordon College
Scott Hwang
Indiana University, Indianapolis
Global Ethics, Civic Character, and Leadership
Jason M. Kelly, Lasana D. Kazembe
Loyola University Chicago
Undergraduate Jesuit Character Education at Loyola University Chicago
Joseph Vukov, Shannon Howes, Michael B. Burns, James Flavin, Michael P. Murphy
Mercer University
Pathways to Virtue: Building Institutional Capacity for Character Education
Juanita Kimiyo Forrester, William J. Carty, Jennifer L. Bartlett, Susan Codone, Rob Helfenbein
Mount Mary University
Trust & Dare: Building Capacity Through a Character Commonplace Curriculum
Kristen Carioti, Jennifer Kontny, Zac Karanovich
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Educating the Whole Engineer: Incorporating Virtues as Learning Outcomes in Fundamentals of Engineering Design Courses at New Jersey Institute of Technology
J. Britt Holbrook, Ashish Borgaonkar
North Central College
Developing Disruptors: Fostering Curiosity, Compassion, and Courage to Dismantle Injustice
Suzanne Chod, Christina Shaheen Moosa
Ohio University
“Life Is Abundant”: Character Education in Appalachian Ohio
Mary Kate Hurley, Christopher S. Lewis
Olin College of Engineering
Connecting Civic Virtue and Undergraduate Engineering
Erhardt Graeff, Andrea Cuadra
Roanoke College
How Character and Leadership Intersect with Purpose Discernment and Intellectual Inquiry
Kathy Wolfe, Stephen Capaldo
Saint Catherine University
Leading for Social Justice: Creating a Collaborative Curriculum to Foster Love of Dear Neighbor
Sophie Hunt, Rachel Neiwert
Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota
Expanding Undergraduate Access and Recognizing Character
Michael Hahn, Andrew LaMere
Southern Methodist University
From Nodes to Networks: Defining, Unifying, and Promoting Character Education at SMU
Rita Kirk, Matt Nadler
Southern Wesleyan University
From Knowledge to Wisdom and Character: Building a Transformative Core Curriculum in the Christian Liberal Arts Tradition
Trudy Summers, Chad Stutz
State University of New York
State University of New York (SUNY) Empire State Service Corps
Matt Schaffer
Taylor University
Exploring Community-Driven Character Development in the Taylor University Honors Guild
Scott Moeschberger
Tulane University
“Non sibi, sed suis” (Not for oneself but for one’s own): Re-envisioning Tulane’s Credo by Centering Civic Leadership
Michael Brumbaugh, Lucas Díaz, Agnieszka Nance
University of Alabama
Using Character Education to Encourage Sentinel Behavior Among Business Students
Todd DeZoort, Troy Pollard
University of Dayton and Sinclair Community College
Building a Common Language of Character Across a Public Community College and a Private 4-Year University
Nancy Arden McHugh, Myra Bozeman
University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign
The Illinois Way: Cultivating Civic Character and Purpose Through Service Learning
Chris Napolitano, Chrystalla Mouza, Emily Stone, Kaylin Ratner, Olivia Hagedorn, Katie Shumway
University of Memphis
Ascend University of Memphis
Jamie Brunsdon
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
Resilient Leaders – Character Education Through Leadership Development, Community Engagement, and Experiential Learning
Evan Long, Shania McMillian
University of Portland
Educating Character by Engaging the Sainte-Croix Mission Reflection Model at the University of Portland
Valerie Banschbach, Tshombé Brown, Evan Leadem, Steven Mayer, Edwin Obermiller, Stephanie Salomone
University of South Carolina, Columbia
Building Bridges of Character: A Perspective Honoring Approach to Ethical Leadership
Meir Muller, Devin Randolph
University of the South
Coalescing Around a Common Language for Character Formation
Amy S. Patterson, Lydia Reinig
Westmont College
Westmont’s Initium Program: A New First-Year Seminar Integrating Intellectual, Moral, and Spiritual Formation
Eileen McMahon McQuade, Steve Porter
Wright State University
Developing Character Champions on Campus
Rachel E. Sturm
Lists of previous ECI grant recipients are available here.