ECI News and Stories
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- “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 students think about character education
ECI Researchers Michael Prinzing and Juliette Ratchford recently ran a study that investigated what students think about intentional efforts on the part of faculty or institutions to foster their character growth. - The Davidson difference: New Institute for Public Good translates a legacy of honor into a framework for dialogue
“We’re going to develop the leadership for the next generation of leaders, and we’re going to do it in the ways that we care about when it comes to character,” Chris Marsicano, P.I. for Davidson College’s Institutional Impact Grant and the inaugural director of the Martin Institute for Public Good, recently told LearningWell magazine. - New character textbook makes virtue accessible for undergraduates
When Robert J. Hartman began teaching his first-year seminar, “Becoming a Better Person,” in Fall 2023, he set out to help students reflect on who they are, who they hope to become, and how to take steps in that direction. As he built his syllabus, though, he noticed a gap: there simply weren’t enough succinct, engaging resources on character designed for students just starting out. - I dreamed I made my mentor cry
In an essay published in The Christian Century, ECI Senior Research Scholar and Associate Director of Partnerships Emily Hunt-Hinojosa considers the texture, complexity, and invitation to character in relationship to power. She offers a unique and nuanced exploration of MLK Jr.’s vision of character, braiding multiple ways of knowing into a story of character and love. - Searching for joy
“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. - Truth and service: Howard University to develop an H.B.C.U.-based framework for character education
Howard University is developing an H.B.C.U.-based theoretical model for character education and studying existing models and strategies for character education in higher 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. - “What measure should we use?”
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? - Hospitality, humility, and the common good: Inside the 2025 ECI Project Brief
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. - On Not Being a Scoundrel
“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. - New study suggests being virtuous may support your own well-being
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. - The Chronicle of Higher Education: “Young people are adrift, and they want a different kind of education.”
“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. - The critical role of HBCUs in forming leaders of character
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. - Advice from current grantees: What to know before you apply
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. - 5 lessons on cultivating communities of character from our 2025 ECI webinar series
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. - Senior Scholar of Character featured on “How to Ruin Dinner” podcast
In the episode, Aaron Cobb discusses hope—not just as a feeling or a fleeting optimism, but as a virtue that shapes character and community. - The Anteaters Virtues Project at U.C. Irvine is making its way across campus — and higher education
“We don’t just train people to be doctors or engineers or business leaders; we train people to think for themselves, and that is profoundly liberating,” Duncan Pritchard recently told LearningWell magazine about the university’s character work. Pritchard is director of the Anteater Virtues Project, which promotes the intellectual virtues of curiosity, integrity, intellectual humility, and intellectual tenacity across the university. - Gathering for the common good: Reflections from a convening of faith-based institutions at George Fox University
This fall, George Fox University hosted ECI Community members united in exploring the formation of student character in faith-based higher education. Together, this group of thoughtful leaders represents a growing subset within the ECI Community: faith-based institutions committed to forming students with the qualities they need to serve the common good. - At Utah State University, peacebuilding isn’t just a skillset; it’s a way of being
What does it mean to build the traits of a peacebuilder rather than just theoretically know how to resolve conflict? At Utah State University, a religious studies professor and a political science professor are collaborating to enhance the university’s core curriculum with peace studies pedagogy that’s integrated with character education. - What an education is for: Character and the second curriculum at HBCUs
The North Carolina Central University (NCCU) Office of Community Engagement and Service, NCCU Wesley Campus Ministry, and Duke University Chapel co-sponsored a public conversation on “What an Education is For: Character and the Second Curriculum at HBCUs” at NCCU on Thursday, Oct. 16. - At Seton Hill University, Catholic origins inspire universal virtues
Seton Hill University is weaving its founding spirit, rooted in the mission of the Sisters of Charity, into a modern approach to character education. With support from the ECI, faculty and students are turning archives, classrooms, and conversations into spaces where virtues like humility, wisdom, and gratitude spark to life. - Can racial justice be effectively taught by emphasizing virtues?
A recent study found that framing discussions about race around virtues like courage and patience reduces defensiveness, fosters openness, and encourages meaningful action. Our ECI Senior Research Fellow Juliette Ratchford contributed to the research. - Wake Forest University’s Educating Character Initiative announces Request for Proposals for grants from $50K to $1 million to U.S. colleges and universities
The Educating Character Initiative announced a request for proposals from U.S. colleges and universities for grants between $50,000 and $1,000,000 to develop the character of their faculty, staff, and students. - Three lessons from Anishinaabe principles to inform a contextualized approach to character education
In socially diverse contexts, character educators often struggle to articulate what “good character” means. They want to avoid both moral dogmatism and relativism. In this webinar, three distinguished presenters draw on Anishinaabe principles of relationality, process, and reciprocity to offer a third way, showing character educators how they can help students develop a contextualized understanding of good character. - Studying philosophy cultivates intellectual virtues, new study finds
Philosophy graduates consistently score higher on tests of verbal and logical reasoning than their peers from other majors, according to the new research by members of the ECI Community. - How Fort Lewis College is helping heal the past and face the future
Once a federal Indian boarding school, Fort Lewis College is using its ECI Institutional Impact Grant to address its painful past by “centering character education within a reconciliation initiative that goes beyond atonement to institutional change,” writes LearningWell Magazine. - New character education initiative at Syracuse University focuses on fans
In the August installment of our media partnership with LearningWell Magazine, a publication of the LearningWell Coalition, Syracuse University’s “Character Development and Sport Fan Engagement” project is highlighted for differentiating itself from most sports-driven character-building projects by focusing on the fans. - Lessons from our 2025 Course Development and Redesign Workshop
In July, 52 faculty members from Wake Forest and beyond joined us for our “Character Across the Curriculum” workshop. The goal was to support educators who want to integrate leadership and character development into new and existing courses. - Can Intellectual Virtues Re-Energize Teaching?
In an opinion essay for Inside Higher Education, Senior Lecturer of Marine Conservation and Ethics at Duke University Rebecca Vidra—a 2025 ECI Teacher-Scholar Grant recipient—reflects on her work to redesign courses on environmental issues in ways that center the formation of intellectual virtues like curiosity, humility, and resilience. - Wake Forest’s Educating Character Initiative announces $15.6M in new grants to 33 institutions
Thanks to the support of Lilly Endowment Inc. and Wake Forest University, the Educating Character Initiative (ECI) has awarded $15.6 million in new Institutional Impact Grants to 28 projects among 33 colleges and universities. Each of these institutions seeks to undertake a substantial and sustained effort to educate character in undergraduate populations across their institutions.