By Sarah Plain
What does Center for Ethics & Leadership do?
The Center for Ethics & Leadership (CEL) is a faculty-led organization that encourages St. Edward’s students, faculty, and staff to address the problems in our world and immediate community by engaging with each other to find positive solutions. CEL activities have an open atmosphere where participants listen to each other intently and respectfully. Participants have claimed to walk away with a more open mind and a better understanding of current issues and their proposed solutions. The Center challenges students to respectfully discuss how they can work towards social justice within and beyond their communities.
The CEL challenges the St. Edward’s community to work towards a solution to the important questions about ethics and leadership by facilitating various programs and events. Common activities where you can get involved with the CEL include:
- Fusion Discussion Groups: These discussions are for students, faculty, and staff to discuss in small groups diverse and distinct perspectives on important and relevant issues of our time. These discussions aim to reach a consensus on a policy. Lunch is provided.
-Occurs four to five times a semester. - Speaker Series: Experts in fields of study associated with ethics and leadership are invited to campus to speak with students, faculty, and staff to initiate a dialogue on topics of global interest
-Occurs five times a semester - Deliberative Dialogues: These public dialogues focus on finding policy solutions to political problems by engaging in civic and civil discussions. Intelligent discussion of a topic on the news.
-Occurs about once a semester. - The Most Reverend John McCarthy Lecture Series: These academic dialogues related to 21st-century issues within the church underscore the university’s commitment to its Catholic roots and Holy Cross heritage. The lectures are open to students, faculty, staff, and the church community.
-Occurs once a semester.
What do you get out of participating in CEL?
Students get the chance to talk about current issues with faculty, staff, and other students outside of the classroom. The CEL encourages everyone who participates in their programs and activities to have intelligent and engaging conversations with each other. It forces participants to open up to different opinions and possibilities and change their way of thinking. The CEL aims to provide as a model for democratic discussions that foster empathy and respectfulness that inspire people to be a good citizen that extends beyond just voting.
What does the CEL contribute to the St. Edward’s community?
The CEL makes St. Edward’s focus on change by encouraging students, faculty, and staff to contemplate and discuss ethical issues that they face. The Center also provides support and training to faculty, students, and staff to promote understanding and commitment to ethics and leadership. They aim to teach and develop methods of ethical analysis which take into account human diversity, yet facilitate a rational consensus on just resolutions of moral issues that includes–but is not limited to–personal and familial relationships, the workplace, educational institutions, healthcare, politics, the environment, and the appropriate development and use of technology. By promoting civic civil engagement among the St. Edward’s community, they develop honest, intelligent, and caring leaders.
How can students get involved?
For more information and a list of upcoming events, visit www.ethicsonthehilltop.org or contact the center’s director, Dr. Jack Musselman, at jackgm@stedwards.edu.