“This letter describes what my imagined companions—sociological archetypes to draw out complexities beyond my own experience and knowledge—might encounter together on the path to joy,” writes Senior Research Scholar & Associate Director of Partnerships Emily Hunt-Hinojosa in this month’s Virtues & Vocations magazine.
Categories: Educating Character Initiative News
Howard University is developing an H.B.C.U.-based theoretical model for character education. In this work, they are looking at key considerations of character education through an H.B.C.U. lens, including the legacy of character within Black education and the paucity of Black-centric character education within the literature.
Categories: Educating Character Initiative News
The ECI Research Team often gets questions like the above from educators leading character-related projects. Before discussing assessment tools, we first need to answer a deeper question: What kind(s) of evidence could tell us whether your institution or program is having the intended effect on students?
Categories: Educating Character Initiative News
We’re pleased to share the Educating Character Initiative 2025 Project Brief, a snapshot of our shared work and its direction. This document reflects the ECI Community’s collective efforts and commitment to forming students, institutions, and cultures shaped by character for the common good.
Categories: Educating Character Initiative News
“I teach courses in leadership and ethics in the law, and I begin most of those courses by asking students a series of questions, including: ‘By a show of hands, how many of you think there’s a decent chance you’ll go to prison for something you do related to your future work as a lawyer?’ writes Kenneth Townsend, Executive Director of Leadership and Character in the Professional Schools.
Is being virtuous good for you – or just people around you? “People who are habitually more compassionate, patient, and self-controlled tend to experience better well-being. And when people display more compassion, patience, and self-control than usual, they tend to feel better than they usually do,” the ECI’s Michael Prinzing explains in The Conversation.
Categories: Educating Character Initiative News
“Many American colleges are elevating discussions of character. Wake Forest University has developed the Educating Character Initiative, a national network of colleges committed to putting character at the center of curriculum,” writes Clark Gilbert in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Categories: Educating Character Initiative News
United Negro College Fund’s Jelani Favors and the ECI’s Emily Hunt-Hinojosa and Michael Prinzing make the argument that character education efforts at HBCUs have been underappreciated. To kick off conversations around research on the role of HBCUs in educating character, they invite you to collaborate and join the discussion.
Categories: Educating Character Initiative News
Current ECI grantees share what helped them develop strong proposals, build partnerships, and connect their ideas to their institutions’ needs. Together, they remind us that this work matters, that there’s room for many approaches, and that you are not alone in the process.
Categories: Educating Character Initiative News
In 2025, ECI Webinars brought together diverse perspectives on how communities can cultivate wholeness, reciprocity, care, justice, and hospitality, and how character can be intentionally developed through community.
Categories: Educating Character Initiative News