MACON, Ga. — Mercer University’s Center for Leadership, Ethics and Service has received a $267,000 grant that will help the center continue to promote the integration of character education across the University.
The grant was one of 44 2026 Institutional Impact Grants awarded to 49 institutions by Wake Forest University’s Educating Character Initiative (ECI). The program aims to equip higher education institutions “with the resources, funding and support needed to integrate character education into their distinctive institutional contexts, curricula and cultures,” according to its website.
“We are grateful to Wake Forest University for this grant, which allows us to expand our deep commitment to service, leadership and character education,” said Mercer President Penny L. Elkins, Ph.D. “This funding provides the ideal momentum to push Mercer’s mission forward, ensuring our students are fully prepared to face modern challenges with absolute integrity.”
The funding will support the initiative Building Character on Purpose: Leadership and Mission at Mercer University – a three-year institutional initiative led by the Center for Leadership, Ethics, and Service (MUCLES) and co-authored by Juanita Forrester, Ph.D., Mercer’s associate professor of management in the Stetson-Hatcher School of Business and director of the Center for Leadership, Ethics and Service, and William J. Carty, DBA, assistant professor of strategic management in the Stetson-Hatcher School of Business.
The project deepens character formation as a shared, mission-aligned endeavor across the university community. Through coordinated programming, communities of practice and institutional leadership development, the project engages students, faculty and staff in purposeful character education.
“There is already so much meaningful work happening around character across our campus,” said Forrester. “This project gives us an opportunity to connect those efforts, learn from one another and create more intentional spaces for students, faculty and staff to grow together.”
The initiative builds directly on the momentum generated through Mercer’s 2025–2026 (ECI) Capacity Building Grant, Pathways to Virtue. During that year, MUCLES engaged faculty, staff, students and administrators in university-wide workshops, book communities, leadership programming and collaborative conversations centered on virtue, character and leadership.
The funding will also help support the Presidential Fellowship program, which is a highly selective leadership fellowship that provides the opportunity for exceptional Mercer students to work alongside President Elkins.
Supported by Wake Forest University’s Educating Character Initiative (ECI) and substantial funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc., these major three-year awards provide chosen U.S. colleges and universities with between $100,000 and $1,000,000 to integrate character education into their campus cultures.
Co-directed by Mercer alumnus retired Lt. Gen. Claude Kicklighter, MUCLES is a multidisciplinary effort to develop global leaders required for the demands, challenges, and opportunities of the 21st century. The center aims to coordinate and enhance leadership initiatives across campus, create synergies where they make the greatest impact, honor the integrity of existing programs, and foster new initiatives that strengthen leadership development across all programs and locations.
