{"id":154150,"date":"2025-12-11T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=154150"},"modified":"2025-12-10T18:28:31","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T00:28:31","slug":"university-of-mississippi-character-of-leaders-initiative-celebrates-people-and-virtues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/university-of-mississippi-character-of-leaders-initiative-celebrates-people-and-virtues\/","title":{"rendered":"University of Mississippi Character of Leaders Initiative Celebrates People and Virtues"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Program aims to embed moral, civic and intellectual virtues into coursework, research and campus culture<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

by Marisa C. Atkinson<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

University of Mississippi<\/strong> officials are working to integrate virtues into campus life while recognizing those who personify the traits through an initiative launched this fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0Center for Practical Ethics<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0partnered with the\u00a0Trent Lott Leadership Institute<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to create the Character of Leaders Initiative with funding from Wake Forest University’s Educating Character Initiative. The\u00a0initiative is in its second year<\/a>,\u00a0led by Deborah Mower<\/strong>, director of the ethics center, and Melissa Jones<\/strong>, associate director of the Lott Institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cohort of 31 Ole Miss faculty and staff began its virtue studies this fall. The interdisciplinary group represents areas of campus ranging from sciences and engineering to communication, education, and nutrition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Leaders of character are not born, they are shaped through education, mentorship, and community engagement,” Jones said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initiative works to mold leaders and focuses on developing the virtues within the UM Creed<\/a> because those qualities are essential, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The initiative addresses this need by integrating moral, civic, and intellectual virtues into the culture at the University of Mississippi<\/a>,” Mower said. “It builds on the UM Creed and decades of character education to create a unified, interdisciplinary approach to developing ethical and effective leaders across all areas of the university.”<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The professional tutelage includes participating in a yearlong schedule involving workshops, book studies, presentations and speakers by which participants learn and think about how to apply learned elements into their courses and research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What’s unique is that we have a cohort that will design classes and think how to create an integrated, consistent set of experiences for students focused on character,” Mower said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cohort members will ultimately incorporate what they learn to their own area of instruction and research by building or refining a course focusing on character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because faculty, staff, and students are so intertwined, students \u2013 and therefore, the university \u2013 will benefit from this initiative and become stronger leaders with character because of this professional development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We all impact each other, each of us contributing to the culture and reputation of our university,” Mower said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of the initiative, 15 Ole Miss faculty, staff, and students were recognized this semester for personifying the Creed through the program’s campuswide accolades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Many university individuals are well-known for their significant work, and the initiative recognizes individuals who may not be as well-known but whose work is still important, Jones said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This series of awards is an effort to help identify the individuals who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make others’ lives better,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Exemplar Award recognized faculty, staff and students for demonstrating the core virtues of fairness, respect, integrity, civility and intellectual humility of the UM Creed.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Exemplar Award recipients are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n