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Loyola University Chicago has been awarded an Institutional Impact Grant from the Educating Character Initiative (ECI), a project of The Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University. The $600,000 grant will provide funding to further support character education for undergraduate students over three years.
The grant team, composed of staff from the Division of Student Development (DSD) and faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences, will use the funding to foster a culture grounded in character education through co-curricular and academic activities, such as a faculty fellowship program.
Character education, which seeks to develop intellectual, moral, and civic virtues, is a natural application of Loyola’s mission, which is rooted in producing leaders who are dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge in service of humanity and the common good.
The grant builds on a $50,000 Capacity-Building Grant Loyola received in 2025 from the ECI to audit and evaluate current practices and lay the groundwork for a comprehensive, institutional framework for character education.
Rooted in hope
Character education is a key element of the recently launched University-Wide Student Success Strategy aimed at strengthening retention, graduation, career outcomes, and equity. The third pillar of this strategy, Center Student Success on Discernment, Purpose, and Vocation, strengthens in the lives of our students the reflection and character development that are essential to Loyola’s Jesuit mission. Guided by the Universal Apostolic Preferences of the Society of Jesus, which call Jesuit institutions “to accompany the young in the creation of a hope-filled future,” Loyola’s character education framework treats hope as a stable tenet of character that calls us to engage and take action in our communities.
With the support of this new grant, Loyola will apply this framework through academic and co-curricular activities aimed at instilling the virtues of intellectual humility, compassion, solidarity, and practical wisdom in Loyola’s students. Students will be invited to cultivate these virtues through the Ignatian practices of imagination and reflection.
“While character education is not a new idea at Loyola, our work will serve as the first coordinated, institutional effort to develop and deliver an integrated, sustainable approach that is endemic to our university,” said Joe Vukov, associate professor of philosophy and principal investigator.
Training faculty to bring character into the classroom
Vukov and Michael Burns, associate professor of biology, will oversee the development of the faculty fellowship program in partnership with the Center for Faculty Development. The fellowship will provide faculty with funds, resources, and training to integrate character education into their teaching, mentorship, and experiential learning practices.
The fellowship program will begin accepting applications late in Fall 2026 and will welcome its first cohort in Spring 2027.
Building character beyond the classroom
Jim Flavin, director of special projects and strategic initiatives, and Shannon Howes, director of assessment and assistant to the vice president of student development, will oversee integration of Loyola’s framework into student life.
One such example is the Rambler Journey initiative, which encourages undergraduate students to participate in transformative experiences, such as student employment, student organization involvement, and community service, and reflect on how those experiences have helped them to grow in virtue.
“It’s important that we not only encourage each of our students to participate in those valuable experiences that will support their formation, but to also provide opportunities for them to reflect on their experiences,” said Flavin.
“With the work of this dedicated, interdisciplinary team of faculty and staff, Loyola will be able to capitalize on this momentum and strengthen the very culture of our institution toward greater acceptance, visibility, and integration of character education as an essential practice,” said Howes.
To learn more about the work of the ECI team at Loyola, please contact Michael Burns, Shannon Howes, Joe Vukov, or Jim Flavin.
Read more stories from the College of Arts and Sciences and Division of Student Development.
