Wendt Center's Transformative Journey to Infuse Character Across Campus Continues with $355,150 Grant

DUBUQUE, Iowa - A new grant will allow the University of Dubuque's Wendt Center to continue its transformative journey in expanding its reach, inclusivity, and impact to more effectively implement a campus-wide culture of character.

The $355,150 Educating Character Initiative (ECI) 2025 Institutional Impact Grant will provide support over three years to further infuse character in undergraduate curricula and programming through the Wendt Center's project Shaping Character Through the Head, Heart, and Hands: A Vision for Purposeful Living in which reflective thinking, compassionate connection, and purposeful action will be combined. It's one of 28 new Institutional Impact Grants totaling $15.6 million awarded by ECI, a project of the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University founded in 2023 through the support of Lilly Endowment Inc.

"This grant represents a significant opportunity for the Wendt Center and the University of Dubuque," said Liza Johnson, EdD, director of the Wendt Center. "It will allow us to expand and strengthen our programming - offering more students meaningful opportunities to explore character, build community, and grow as purposeful leaders. At a time when character development is more important than ever, this investment affirms our identity as a university deeply committed to whole-person education. With an endowed center and national recognition through this grant, UD is uniquely positioned to lead in character and leadership development in higher education."

Founded in 2004 through a generous endowment from Richard and Nancy Wendt, the Wendt Center intends to evolve from a respected resource to a transformative presence where every student - regardless of field of study, background, or calling - benefits from intentional experiences that support their character growth and equip them to lead lives of purpose.

In 2024, supported by a one-year, $50,000 Capacity Building Grant from ECI, the Wendt Center created a new vision and framework, grounded in the spirit of the Golden Rule, to cultivate good character and lives of purpose for the common good in an ever-changing world.

The new ECI grant will amplify those efforts through five transformative goals that underscore the Wendt Center's commitment to advancing character and leadership development. Goals include reorienting the Wendt Center as a transformative presence embedded in the student experience, implementing new evaluation tools to measure the center's impact, and sharing the Wendt Center's new character and leadership development model beyond UD.

Another goal is to enhance character and leadership development opportunities that align with the Wendt Center's new vision and framework through dynamic co-curricular programs.

"Each year, we welcome 50 students to our Wendt Character Scholars program, unfortunately turning nearly 100 applicants down. While these 50 scholars receive intentional character education, we want to engage in meaningful co-curricular programming for far more students," Johnson said.

To help meet this broader demand, the Wendt Center plans to launch the Pathways to Purpose program, which will expand access to character development to students across campus. In addition, the center will extend the Wendt Character Scholars program to include a fourth-year experience that focuses on sharing what the scholars have learned about character.

The grant also includes a goal to deepen character integration in learning outcomes across all 19 academic disciplines on campus. This initiative intends to strengthen educational outcomes, increase departmental feedback and participation in engaging in character learning outcomes, and enable students to connect their academic learning with principles of character that will serve them personally and professionally.

"The Wendt Center's mission to foster character development is not just complementary but essential to the broader mission of the University of Dubuque. Their work inspires students to discover their purpose and equips them to make meaningful contributions to their communities and the world at large," said Adam Hoffman, PhD, vice president for academic affairs at UD. "This grant presents a remarkable opportunity to expand the reach and influence of the Wendt Center, enabling it to expand its innovative programs and deepen its impact on both our campus and the wider community. I am excited to support the center in this next chapter of its work."