Institutional Impact Grants Archives - The Program for Leadership and Character

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

November 17, 2025

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

At Utah State University, peacebuilding isn’t just a skillset; it’s a way of being

November 17, 2025

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.

Categories: Educating Character Initiative News

At Seton Hill University, Catholic origins inspire universal virtues

October 22, 2025

photo collage of newspapers with black-and-white images of nuns and another image of Vietnam protestors

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.

Categories: Educating Character Initiative News

Wake Forest University’s Educating Character Initiative announces Request for Proposals for grants from $50K to $1 million to U.S. colleges and universities

October 1, 2025

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.

Categories: Educating Character Initiative News

How Fort Lewis College is helping heal the past and face the future

September 9, 2025

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.

Categories: Educating Character Initiative News

New character education initiative at Syracuse University focuses on fans

August 12, 2025

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.

Categories: Educating Character Initiative News

Wake Forest’s Educating Character Initiative announces $15.6M in new grants to 33 institutions

July 11, 2025

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.

Categories: Educating Character Initiative News

Congratulations to the 2025 ECI Institutional Impact Grant recipients

July 11, 2025

Starling Hall, home of the Program for Leadership and Character

These three-year grants provide support to enable institutional leaders, faculty, and staff to infuse character in undergraduate curricula and programming in ways that align organically with their college or university’s mission, context, and culture.

Categories: Educating Character Initiative News

Wake Forest’s Educating Character Initiative to expand its nationwide network promoting character education with $30M in new funding

July 10, 2025

Wake Forest University’s Educating Character Initiative (ECI) will expand its support for character education at colleges and universities across the country with more than $30 million in new funding from Lilly Endowment Inc.

Categories: Educating Character Initiative News

University of Mississippi: A Semester Against Grandstanding

June 18, 2025

Throughout the Spring 2025 semester, the University of Mississippi (UM) hosted several character-centered events and workshops with the recurring theme of moral grandstanding, or abusing moral talk to enhance your own social status.

Categories: Educating Character Initiative News

The Program for Leadership and Character

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

At Utah State University, peacebuilding isn’t just a skillset; it’s a way of being

At Seton Hill University, Catholic origins inspire universal virtues

Wake Forest University’s Educating Character Initiative announces Request for Proposals for grants from $50K to $1 million to U.S. colleges and universities

How Fort Lewis College is helping heal the past and face the future

New character education initiative at Syracuse University focuses on fans

Wake Forest’s Educating Character Initiative announces $15.6M in new grants to 33 institutions

Congratulations to the 2025 ECI Institutional Impact Grant recipients

Wake Forest’s Educating Character Initiative to expand its nationwide network promoting character education with $30M in new funding

University of Mississippi: A Semester Against Grandstanding

Archives

Where to start

Get to know WFU

Resources

Support Wake Forest

Wake Forest Giving Societies