News - The Program for Leadership and Character

Featured Stories

Our First Class of Leadership & Character Scholars has Graduated. Here’s What They Taught Us.

We interviewed three Scholars and the Director of the Scholars program, Ann Phelps. Here, they talk about what the experience has meant to them in their own words.

Leadership, Power, and Confidence: A Conference for Women by Women

The two-day conference served as an opportunity for women or non-binary students to build confidence, explore their potential as leaders, and connect with a network of peers and campus leaders to support them throughout their leadership journey.

Two Leadership and Character Scholars Reflect on their College Experiences at the Senior Colloquium

During the Senior Colloquium, ten faculty-nominated seniors reflected on their undergraduate experiences and shared the lessons they have learned along the way. This year, two of of Leadership and Character Scholars were among the orators.

“Educating Character Across the University” Conference Draws More than 200 To Wake Forest

The three-day gathering highlighted promising work on character education at colleges and universities, and strengthened a community of scholars focused on educating character in their contexts.

Wake Forest University Awarded $30M Lilly Endowment Inc. Grant to Build National Capacity for Character Education

Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded Wake Forest a $30.7 million grant to support the University’s Program for Leadership and Character and create a national higher education network devoted to educating character.

Wake Forest senior Alice Hauser named Rhodes Scholar

Alice Hauser, a Leadership and Character Ambassador and a Principled Pluralism Fellow, has been awarded the Rhodes Scholarship.

Program Welcomes 15 New Student Ambassadors in 2022

The ceremony recognized students who have engaged with our Program and have been impacted by it.

‘The Good Place’ creator, Michael Schur, mixes comedy and ethics

For the evening event, about 600 people filled Brendle Hall where Schur shared stories about obsessive mouthwash swishing, a philosopher leaving his corpse to his friend and an incident with a bumper scratch gone viral.

How Student Performers Examine the Arts’ Influence On Their Character

In a book of essays, student performers share their reflections about the arts during a time when the pandemic prevented them from performing.

Leadership and Character-Led Course Challenges Students to Creatively Solve Community Problems

Students use creative problem solving to develop bold initiatives that could be used to benefit the community.

Five Program Postdoctoral Fellows Land New Teaching Positions at Universities Across the World

They’re now taking their knowledge of leadership and character to other colleges and universities around the world.

How a Law Student Looks at Leadership and Character

As an inaugural member of the Leadership and Character Law Scholars, Cedric James found out how practicing to be an ethical leader can add so much more to the practice of law.

Three new team members to join the Program for Leadership and Character

The positions were made possible by a generous grant from the Kern Family Foundation.

michael lamb speaks at inauguration luncheone=

“What is Wake Forest For?” Dr. Michael Lamb delivers speech at Inauguration Luncheon

“I cannot offer a definitive interpretation—that task is up to all of us, collectively,” Lamb said, “but I want to suggest there are at least five commitments—five purposes—that animate what Wake Forest is for.”

Leadership & Character Scholars get Face to Face with Dr. Sanjay Gupta

Austin Torain and Akshey Suresh asked questions about South Asian representations in media, work-life balance and how the U.S. might respond during the next pandemic.

Leadership & Character Scholar wins prestigious Goldwater Scholarship

John Billos, a sophomore from Mt. Airy, was one of two Wake Forest students to win the national scholarship.

Students Hear the Value of Being An Ally and Working Together for Environmental Justice

The Program and the Intercultural Center co-sponsored a series of speakers who showed how Indigenous communities have been integral to the important work of environmental justice.

Senior Orators Reflect On Their College Experience

Ten faculty-nominated seniors took the stage for the 2022 Senior Colloquium, reflecting on lessons learned and challenges faced as Wake Forest students. Among them were six students affiliated with the Program, each with unique thoughts to share.

U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo visits Wake Forest University

The Program for Leadership and Character was part of a group that sponsored her three-day visit to campus, culminating with a poetry reading at Wait Chapel.

$8.6 million Kern Family Foundation Grant Funds Character and the Professions Programs

The grant will expand the Program’s mission to equip future leaders in medicine, law, engineering and other professions to think in holistic ways about their values and work.

How Incoming Medical Students Learn about Leadership and Character

Dr. Marcia Wofford used some of the Program’s seven strategies in her orientation for first-year students. Now, it’s leading to bigger changes at the Wake Forest School of Medicine.

The Program for Leadership and Character