A group of Education at Illinois scholars has received funding for their proposal from the Educating Character Initiative at Wake Forrest University.
PI Chris Napolitano, associate professor EPSY; Dean Chrystalla Mouza; Kaylin Ratner, assistant professor EPSY; Emily Stone, director of public engagement; along with WeCU postdoctoral researcher Olivia Hagedorn, School of Social Work director of public engagement Katie Shumway, have been awarded $50,000 for their project The Illinois Way: Building Capacity for Character Education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
The group proposes a foundational, one-year capacity-building project to develop "The Illinois Way," a civic character education initiative delivered through service learning courses supported by our existing We CU infrastructure.
The mission of the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University is 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 students' lives, foster an inclusive culture of leadership and character, and catalyze a broader public conversation that places character at the center of leadership.