Reinvesting in Jesuit character education at Regis University

At Regis University, the valuable Jesuit education not only prepares students for the upcoming workforce but also shapes their character, rooted in our mission, helping them rise with a purpose that they choose. For the upcoming academic year, Regis has received a Capacity-Building grant as part of the Educating Character Initiative (ECI) from Wake Forest University.

Spearheaded by Regis College philosophy professor and chair, Jason Taylor, Ph.D., the grant is designed to both connect the university with a network of other institutions focused on building character education and – in the case of Regis – reinvest into the faculty who embody the mission through a specifically Jesuit education.

But what does “character education” mean? In the context of the grant, “character education” refers to a range of educational approaches to moral, civic and intellectual character across different institutions. Unlike some of the other recipients of this grant, Regis University, uniquely, is part of a nearly 500-year history of character education. With Jesuit teachings dating back to the 16th century, the institution is a part of the much larger tradition.

“When we think about character education in a Jesuit context, what I really think is most important is that we understand that there are certain ways of forming people in ethical dispositions,” said Taylor. “However, contact is more important than concepts; there's an indispensable role for experiential education.”

At Regis, a profound character education is distilled through the Integrative Core courses taken in the latter years of a student’s educational career. Regis University’s student demographics have shifted considerably in the last few years. Now supporting more first-generation students and underserved students than ever before, the need for a comprehensive, integrative educational model is paramount to student success in the Jesuit educational tradition.

This year, Regis College is restructuring its Integrative Core course selection, giving rise to a “need to rebuild the faculty community,” as Taylor put it. Student success starts not just with the student, but with the educator as well. The grant from Wake Forest University serves students through strengthening the character education capacities of select Regis College faculty through the changes to the Integrative Core.

"The grant is really dedicated to forming faculty in companionship and mission, towards accompanying students in integrative education,” said Taylor. “When you think about Jesuit education, the ways in which we talk about forming students to be persons for and with others are not formally different from the ways that we talk about forming faculty and staff.”

Rethinking the Integrative Core enables a larger variety of faculty to instruct in courses that “search for meaning.”  The new set of Integrative Core courses, classified as “Unity of Heart, Mind, and Hands” (IC 430), introduces students to a practice or set of practices. Past courses have included nature journaling and an introduction to Zen. The actual theming of the “practice” itself is less important than how the students engage in the process of Ignatian discernment.

With the grant, twelve select Regis College faculty will engage in a series of discerning activities throughout the course of the academic year. Faculty will build community through a series of guided dinners, workshops and one-on-one mentoring intended to introduce Ignatian spirituality in a communal setting.

The cohort will also complete the AJCU’s Ignatian Pedagogy Certificate in either the fall or spring. They will also complete the 2027 Common Home Teaching Institute and take part in a two-day silent retreat at the Sacred Heart Jesuit Retreat House in Sedalia, Colorado, in the spring. For Taylor, including different methods of education was important to ensure that each member of the cohort could integrate their own learning styles.

“These components are to build a strong sense of companionship and camaraderie and collegiality amongst the twelve faculty who are participating in the group, and to give them a space for being creative about how they might take what they're learning and build it into the classes they're planning to teach,” said Taylor.

Through this grant, Regis University has made a commitment to not only reinvest in Jesuit character education but to bring that unique perspective to the broader community of institutions doing the same. Now, as a member of the ECI community, Regis is invited to share and gain perspective on the processes of character education.

Looking back within Regis, the collective of those engaged in deepening character education extends beyond the individuals selected to the institution as a whole. Crafting a culture of discernment from the top down enables the distillation of character education to more students.

"If you take the twelve faculty and multiply that by the maximum number of students per integrated course, that's not an inconsiderable number of students that are going to be impacted by the kind of cohort-building work that we're doing with the faculty,” said Taylor.

To learn more about the Educating Character Initiative (ECI), visit: https://leadershipandcharacter.wfu.edu/eci/.