Stonehill Receives Grant to Explore Character Formation Through Authentic Service
The award will support a year-long professional development initiative led by Karen L. Anderson and Rev. George Piggford, C.S.C.
Stonehill College has been awarded a Capacity-Building Grant from the Educating Character Initiative, a project of The Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University that is funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. The grant will support Compassion and Justice for the Common Good: Character Formation and Service in the Holy Cross Tradition, a new campus-wide project rooted in Stonehill’s mission and values.
Led by co-principal investigators Karen L. Anderson, professor of education and faculty director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, and Rev. George Piggford, C.S.C., professor of English, the initiative invites Stonehill faculty, staff and administrators into a shared conversation about how compassion, justice and authentic service contribute to character formation.
“Stonehill’s mission calls us to educate students who will think, act and lead with courage to create a more just and compassionate world, and this grant provides meaningful opportunities to explore how we may strengthen those efforts as we prepare young people to lead lives of purpose, relationship and responsibility,” Anderson said.
Karen L. Anderson, professor of education and faculty director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (left), and Rev. George Piggford, C.S.C., professor of English (right)
Through a yearlong professional development series, project participants consider scholarship and engage in reflection and dialogue to clarify how compassion, justice, service, character and the common good relate to and inform one another. Additionally, they explore the values that distinguish authentic service from volunteerism, specifically investigating how reciprocal relationships, sustained engagement and attention to others’ needs can cultivate habits of the mind and the heart, as well as allow service to become a formative practice that shapes character.
Dream Big: The Just and Compassionate Service Project is one of the initiative’s cornerstones. This teaching circle brings together faculty and staff to examine how service, justice, compassion and character are understood within the Holy Cross tradition. Faculty and staff consider ways to integrate them into their teaching, programming, advising and interactions with students.
It is intended that the project will enhance Stonehill’s long-term institutional capacity for character formation. Expected outcomes include the development of a shared framework for authentic service, increased faculty and staff confidence in designing character-centered learning experiences, expanded collaboration across campus, and stronger connections between academic programs, co-curricular opportunities, and community engagement efforts. Ultimately, the project aims to establish a common vocabulary and set of practices that can guide service-related initiatives throughout the College.
“By helping faculty and staff develop a shared understanding of authentic service, we are building the foundation for a richer and more intentional approach to character formation in the Holy Cross tradition,” Fr. Piggford said.
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