Ohio University awarded $510,520 grant to expand character education in Appalachian Ohio

Ohio University has been awarded a $510,520 Institutional Impact Grant from the Educating Character Initiative, a project of The Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University. The funding will support “Character Education in Appalachian Ohio,” a three-year project to expand place-based learning and service opportunities that cultivate hope, compassion, humility and courage among undergraduate students.

“I’m excited that the Honors Tutorial College will serve as the hub for new approach character education at Ohio University,” said Dean Kristina Bross. “The grant will help us build on historic strengths and deepen our commitment to OU’s mission to equip students to learn and to serve.”

Ohio University’s project was one of 44 projects that received Institutional Impact Grants from the ECI in 2026. “We were overwhelmed by the quality of the proposals we received this year,” said Jennifer Rothschild, Director of the Educating Character Initiative. “It is exciting to see so many institutions developing character projects rooted in their own identities and missions. We have so much to learn from these projects.”

Led by Ohio University project directors Chris Lewis and Mary Kate Hurley, the initiative will build on existing honors service-learning courses and expand character education into additional general education offerings. Students will engage with community partners through experiences that connect classroom learning with the people, organizations and challenges of Appalachian Ohio. The project will support students working with organizations including Passion Works Studio, Rural Action and the Southeast Ohio History Center. Planned activities include adapting 12 sections of an existing honors service-learning course and nine sections of general education courses, alongside continued offerings of a course focused on hope, compassion, humility and courage in Appalachian Ohio.

The grant will also support professional development for faculty and graduate student instructors through communities of practice, as well as work toward an undergraduate certificate in “Character and the Good Life.” Regional symposia and a culminating collaborative workshop will bring together educators and community partners to share approaches to place-based character education.

Ohio University expects the initiative to directly reach approximately 1,170 students during the grant period, which runs from August 2026 through July 2029. The project aims to reach 15 percent of Ohio University sophomores with a character education course in the year following the grant period.

The Educating Character Initiative is made possible by support from Lilly Endowment Inc.

The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Wake Forest University or Lilly Endowment Inc.