The movement to reconnect knowledge and virtue is not limited to classical schools that focus on primary and secondary education (K–12). Some institutions of higher education are also taking character education seriously, such as Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In 2016, Wake Forest recruited Dr. Michael Lamb as a faculty member in the college, who had previously helped to launch the Oxford Character Project at Oxford University, and upon joining WFU, conceived and launched The Program for Leadership and Character in 2017. Lamb, a leading scholar in virtue ethics, created the program with the explicit mission to “transform the lives of students, foster an inclusive culture of leadership and character at Wake Forest, and catalyze a broader public conversation that places character at the center of leadership.” In 2019, the program expanded into the professional schools, under the leadership of Kenneth Townsend.
I recently spoke with Dr. Lamb about his efforts to incorporate character formation into the liberal learning that is the heart and soul of a Wake Forest education. The subject of virtue, for Lamb, has both theoretical and practical aspects. Lamb begins with the recognition that our institutions of education are not neutral, but “reflect a set of values, norms, and examples that shape the character and lives of those who graduate from them.” Therefore, universities, he argues, should be more intentional about “helping student discern their values and develop their virtues” and “preparing students for lives of meaning and purpose.” Lamb emphasizes particular character traits such as courage, compassion, justice, humility, and honesty that he believes “can help us deepen our own humanity” and “better serve and support others in our communities.”
Lamb acknowledges that not all students will agree about how to express or exercise character traits in some particular complex set of circumstances. But, he argues, the university is one of the best places for students to contest, dialogue, and think critically about how to live because the university gives its students “the freedom, autonomy, and knowledge to explore those questions for themselves, with the guidance and support of diverse peers, professors, and mentors who can offer perspective and wisdom along the way.” But Lamb also acknowledges that virtue is not simply about knowledge—it is a kind of deep, personal formation. This formation takes time and commitment, and the initiative at Wake Forest reflects this.
To the end of educating for character development, The Program for Leadership and Character offers a variety of services to help students grow in virtue. The Leadership and Character Scholars Program supports about ten students per year to participate in mentoring that aims to help them strengthen twelve key virtues of character. The Leadership and Character Ambassador Program and the Leadership and Character Discussion Groups attract a wider range of students interested in character. Lamb’s staff works with over fifty departments, programs, and campus partners to develop offerings that highlight the role and value of character. Lamb also reports that, over the last three years, his staff has committed to over 900 hours of one-on-one mentoring with students.
The Program for Leadership and Character also provides teaching by the initiative’s faculty and postdoctoral fellows that focus explicitly on leadership and character across the undergraduate college and professional schools. The program also supports faculty who want to integrate leadership and character into their own courses. Lamb reports that “over the last three years, seventy-five faculty have received grants to participate in course development workshops and design new course or modules focused on leadership and character within their own disciplines.”
The coursework on virtue is informed by the latest research on character development from across the disciplines. It has drawn on this wealth of research to identify seven strategies for character formation that has proven to be effective. These are: (1) habituation through practice; (2) reflection on personal experience; (3) engagement with virtuous exemplars; (4) dialogue that increases virtue literacy; (5) awareness of situational variables and biases; (6) moral reminders; and (7) friendships of mutual accountability.
A popular course for the program is “Commencing Character,” which brings together a close study of ancient and contemporary accounts of virtue with contemporary commencement speeches that emphasize particular virtues of character. According to Lamb’s own description of the course, “it integrates all seven strategies of character development through readings, weekly reflection prompts, and various activities and assignments that help students to strengthen their character, from a profile of a personal moral exemplar and a two-week plan to strengthen one virtue to a final reflection essay and commencement speech that allows each student to share their vision of a morally good life.”
Finally, research and assessment teams conduct empirical research on the program’s courses and programming to determine what works. Lamb reports that the commencing character course “has a measurable impact on student’s character and sense of purpose.” He believes that this shows that “contrary to what many believe, character can be both taught and assessed” in higher education.
While The Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest is innovative and informed by cutting edge research, it functions to return the university back to its historic mission: to liberally educate its students so that they are free to live meaningful and flourishing lives. The initiative understands that the ideal of a free person is not someone who can get what they want for themselves, but a person who is able to seek what is true, good, and beautiful, and therefore live a flourishing life and contribute to the common good. An education for freedom—a liberal education—is an education for virtue. This is true for higher education most of all.
