Students, parents, and the public need to understand the value of higher education if colleges and universities are going to rebut the omnipresent hostility to the enterprise that we see almost daily in the media and our legislators. The opportunities to refute charges of diminishing return on investment, “wokeness,” and financial excesses, however, are myriad, and they include making sure that our general education curricula make clear to students the long-term value of the courses we ask them to take and the skills we help them develop.
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
