The Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest

08/03/2026

Funding from the John Templeton Foundation and Lilly Endowment Inc. will create a structure to bolster a movement that has taken hold across higher education.

07/30/2026

The Educating Character Initiative (ECI) is launching a new effort to strengthen communities of character nationwide.

Funding from the John Templeton Foundation and Lilly Endowment Inc. will create a structure to bolster a movement that has taken hold across higher education.

07/23/2026

Last weekend, we hosted our Women’s Student-Athlete Retreat! Led by Assistant Director of Programming and Research Scholar Corey Crossan and Assistant Director of Leadership and Character in Athletics Wendell Dunn, the retreat empowered women student-athletes to lead with confidence, authenticity, and purpose.

Throughout the weekend, participants reflected on their personal journeys, strengthened their leadership skills, and built meaningful connections with one another through interactive sessions and activities. They also put their learning into action through a hands-on community service project, working together to restore a community mini library and prepare furniture for individuals transitioning into permanent housing.

07/16/2026

What does accountability look like? In a presentation to faculty at our Character Across the Curriculum Workshop, .michael.lamb spoke about a letter from history that demonstrated one way to practice accountability with deep love and affection.

07/14/2026

We're so pleased to bring together educators from Wake Forest University and 20 institutions from across the country for our annual Character Across the Curriculum: Course Development and Redesign Workshop this week! Sixty participants are learning to use backwards design principles to create or rebuild virtue-development supportive courses with Program for Leadership and Character and Educating Character Initiative staff. Day one kicked off yesterday with sessions that defined educators' values as educators (facilitated by Elizabeth Whiting and Cristy Guleserian), explored environments that support character growth (facilitated by Aaron Cobb), and explained the backwards design process (facilitated by Betsy Barre). Michael Lamb, Senior Executive Director of the Program for Leadership and Character, will present on the Seven Strategies of Character Development.

We're looking forward to seeing the design changes these educators make to their courses and sharing the outcomes with our community this fall!

07/09/2026

The Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest’s Michael Lamb lays out the case for character in our public and political lives — based on what the founders taught us about keeping our republic.

Read more in our America from the Forest series: bit.ly/USA250CharacterWFU

06/18/2026

Congratulations to our first cohort of graduates from the Leadership and Character Certificate Program!During the celebration, Executive Director Cristy Guleserian and Senior Director of Program Administration Kathleen Stimely recognized the 72 graduates and shared words of gratitude for their hard work and dedication.

06/10/2026

“All are equal before the law.” Recent graduate and Leadership and Character in the Law Cohort Alum Josh Flemings (JD ‘26) reflects on his experience in visiting the courthouse where the Nuremberg Trials were held. The Cohort embarked on a trip to Germany where they focused on learning about the tension between what is legal and what is just.

06/04/2026

"Wake Forest University’s Character and Leadership program teaches students to practice virtues, including compassion, curiosity and courage. It shows them how to reflect on their personal experiences and to wrestle with difficult ideas through dialogue with others ... Basically, it’s not being a scoundrel."

Read more from Inside Higher Ed :

Showing students how to be curious is a hard-to-quantify return on investment for a college degree, but one that pays lifelong dividends.