In the past 18 months, students, faculty, and staff experienced what can only be described as trauma. Many have returned to campus after enduring the loss of family members; others are exhausted from nursing sick loved ones back to health or shouldering extra caretaking responsibilities with children. Some have family members who lost their jobs and are struggling to survive financially; others yet are struggling with the visceral examples of systemic racism demonstrated through police violence that were so apparent and visible during the social movement for racial justice. This is compounded by sociopolitical concerns overlapping with the pandemic, including the January 6, 2021, coup attempt as well as far-right legislative assaults on education, trans people, and voting rights.
Character (Still) Counts: Moral Injury and the Case for Character Education
Many academic leaders remember the Character Counts! initiative from the 1990s and early 2000s. It was visible in schools and youth programs nationwide, emphasizing as core values the Six Pillars
Teresa Maggard Stephens
June 15, 2026
