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Radford University receives $600K grant to launch Highlander Center for Character and Public Impact

Radford, VA (07/17/2025) — Radford University has been awarded a $604,396 grant from the Educating Character Initiative (ECI) through the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University. This three-year Institutional Impact Grant will help the university expand its distinctive work in cultivating character, leadership and community engagement.

The funded initiative will strengthen Radford's efforts to prepare students for lives of purpose and civic responsibility. Through this work, the university will launch the Highlander Center for Character and Public Impact, create new student programming and curricula, support faculty research and offer professional development focused on character education across disciplines.

"This funding will allow us to expand our growing emphasis on providing an education that increases students' capacity for serving our communities and the environment through developing the habits of mind that catalyze public impact and positive change," said Heather Keith, executive director of faculty development. "By strengthening our student programming and faculty development around building character, we will engage the campus community in a broad discussion of meaningful and purposeful lives and careers and collectively work toward solving the important problems of our time."

Rather than teaching character as a set of rules, the project emphasizes cultivating the habits and skills needed to navigate today's most complex challenges, often referred to as "wicked problems," with integrity, humility, empathy and practical wisdom. It will also align the university's leadership programs, civil discourse efforts and community-engaged learning around shared character goals.

Key elements of the three-year initiative include:

  • Establishing the Highlander Center for Character and Public Impact
  • Launching a new interdisciplinary curriculum that incorporates character and community-based learning
  • Offering fellowships and training for faculty to integrate character education into their teaching
  • Supporting student and faculty research related to civic leadership and public impact

"We are delighted to receive this grant from Wake Forest's Education Character Initiative, whose mission to develop leaders of character to serve humanity is perfectly aligned with several Radford programs, including Wicked Initiatives and our efforts to foster civil discourse and constructive dialogue across differences," said Bethany Usher, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. "Through the new Highlander Center for Character and Public Impact, we will empower students to serve others and address societal needs in a world facing significant challenges."

The ECI Institutional Impact Grant is funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. and administered by the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University. Radford University is one of a select number of institutions nationwide to receive funding in this competitive second round of awards.

The project will build on Radford's existing strengths in serving students from rural communities and in fostering community partnerships across Southwest Virginia. By weaving character development into academic and co-curricular experiences, the initiative aims to prepare students for ethical leadership in any career or calling.

To learn more about the Educating Character Initiative, visit https://leadershipandcharacter.wfu.edu/eci/.

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