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grantee stories Archive

Solving Wicked Problems Starts with Who You Are: Character Education and the ‘Wicked Festival’ at Radford University

students and faculty gather at the Wicked Festival at Radford University

Each semester at Institutional Impact Grantee Radford University, students from across the university gather at the Wicked Festival, presenting original solutions to some of the world’s hardest problems. “Students, community partners, alumni judges, and faculty circulate, ask hard questions, and push back. The students are the authorities.”

Categories: Educating Character Initiative News

The Davidson difference: New Institute for Public Good translates a legacy of honor into a framework for dialogue

debating at Davidson College

“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.

Categories: Educating Character Initiative News

Gathering for the common good: Reflections from a convening of faith-based institutions at George Fox University

ECI Community members pose for a group photo

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.

Categories: Educating Character Initiative News

Can Intellectual Virtues Re-Energize Teaching?

autumn on Wake Forest's campus

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.

Categories: Educating Character Initiative News

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