Shaping Character for Lives of Purpose Wendt Character Initiative
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Shaping Character
Grounded in the Golden Rule, we cultivate character virtues such as humility, compassion, integrity, respect, empathy, courage, justice, and stewardship, and bring our vision to life through four core pursuits that reflect the integration of head, heart, and hands.
About
Meaningful Change for the Common Good
By fostering a community where individuals learn, grow, and serve, we seek to create a more just and flourishing world.
About
Lives of Purpose
By integrating our head, heart, and hands, we ensure that our approach is both holistic and transformative, empowering individuals to grow in character and contribute meaningfully to their communities.
About
What's Happening
We received a generous Institutional Impact grant from the Educating Character Initiative to support expanding our work in character development in 2025-2028! Read the announcement.
We've got big plans for the coming years and are updating our website to match! Please be patient and visit us again soon to check out what's new.
Peruse our Spring 2026 Newsletter for a look at what we've been up to lately!
Coming Up:
Opportunities for everyone
- October 13th, 2026, 10:45 a.m. - Genesis Be, Global Ambassador for Moral Courage College will deliver the Spring 2026 Michael Lester Wendt Character Lecture in John and Alice Butler Hall, Heritage Center. Free and open to the public!
Opportunities for UD Students
- More Pathways to Purpose developments coming in the fall - check out the Wendt Character Initiative page on Campus Groups in August to see upcoming projects!
Opportunities for UD faculty/Staff - Contact the Wendt Center to sign up at wendt@dbq.edu.
- Fall 2026 Book Discussions: Don't Label Me by Irshad Manji. Liza Johnson and Mary Bryant will lead our discussions.