Washington and Lee Receives Educating Character Initiative Capacity-Building Grant from the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University

By Brian Laubscher
August 13, 2026

The Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University announced that Washington and Lee University has been selected to receive the Educating Character Initiative Capacity-Building Grant.

The $42,190 grant will support W&L's character education program, Cultivating Character in a Culture of Honor: Integrating Character Education at Washington and Lee, during the 2026-27 academic year.

The funding will help the Division of Student Affairs enhance the university's long-standing tradition of educating students with a capacity to think freely, critically and humanely while conducting themselves with honor, integrity and civility.

At the center of the grant is the integration of character education topics and discussion into FYE 100, the first-year experience course required of Advanced Immersion and Mentoring (AIM) Scholars and open to all first-year students. The course will draw upon the Seven Strategies for Character Development to help students form a concrete understanding of what it means to be trustworthy, responsible and respectful members of the W&L community.

The grant will also fund a new daylong leadership retreat for members of the Executive Committee and Student Judicial Council. The retreat will prepare these student leaders to navigate complex ethical dilemmas with integrity as they oversee the Honor System and student conduct, through hands-on simulations, values exercises and conversations with senior university leaders.

Additionally, the funding will be used to bring ECI staff to campus for a one-day professional development training for members of the Division of Student Affairs, including staff in Residence Life, Fraternity and Sorority Life, First-Year Experience, Counseling and Student Engagement and Leadership. The training will help staff build shared knowledge of character education research, best practices and assessment strategies they can apply within their own areas.

"The Educating Character Initiative does extraordinary work and offers great possibilities for integrating character education into our own programming," said Leah Beard, assistant dean of student leadership. Beard first learned of ECI at a conference and led the effort to secure the grant with the support of Alex Miller, vice president for Student Affairs, and Tammy Futrell, dean of student engagement and leadership.

"Character formation and development are so central to the mission of the university," Beard added. "I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to create and implement intentional educational opportunities for our students through partnership with ECI, as well as for W&L to become a member of an inspiring community of higher education practitioners."

The Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest was created in 2017 to inspire, educate and empower leaders of character to serve humanity. Through innovative teaching, creative programming and cutting-edge research, the program aims to transform the lives of students, foster an inclusive culture of leadership and character and catalyze a broader public conversation that places character at the center of leadership. Originally formed to benefit students and faculty at Wake Forest, the program has expanded into a national movement through ECI, made possible with support from the Lilly Endowment Inc. ECI aims to enable institutions of higher education to become communities of character that form students, staff and faculty who act with character for the common good.