Southern Methodist University in University Park will use a nearly $500,000 grant to establish a program that weaves character development into undergraduate education.

SMU’s Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility said it received the grant, the largest in its history, from the Educating Character Initiative at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Lilly Endowment Inc. funds the initiative.

“Preparing students not only to lead but to do so from a principles- or value-based approach is one of the most important things we do at SMU,” President Jay Hartzell said in a statement. “An exceptional education should give students not only knowledge and expertise, but also help them develop the judgment and wisdom to put them to good use.”

In the fall 2025 semester, SMU enrolled more than 7,500 undergraduate students.

Last year, Wake Forest awarded SMU a one-year, $40,400 grant to promote character development. This year’s grant covers three years.

Heart of a Mustang

The new grant will help launch Heart of a Mustang, a campuswide effort to blend character-building into the undergraduate experience. The grant will support faculty and staff training, new courses and student programs, as well as learning experiences across Dallas, SMU said.

“Heart of a Mustang will create more opportunities for our students to develop those qualities in the classroom, across campus, throughout Dallas and beyond, as we prepare high-integrity, principled leaders who are ready to make positive differences in the world around them,” Hartzell said.

SMU said it will add this sort of development as an “intentional and coordinated” focus.

“Heart of a Mustang reflects SMU’s belief that higher education should develop both intellectual excellence and personal character,” Rita Kirk, William F. May Endowed Director of the Maguire Center, said in the statement. Kirk and Matt Nadler are leading the project.

Kirk said today’s students “face increasingly complex ethical, civic and professional challenges.”

“They need more than technical skills,” she said. “They need the habits, virtues and relationships that help them navigate disagreement, build trust, make responsible decisions and serve others.”

The program will help students nurture various virtues, particularly open-mindedness, intellectual humility, integrity, determination and empathy, SMU said.

Money and momentum

Among other facets, the program will offer ethics-and-leadership training to faculty and students, and pay for experiences that take students out of their comfort zones. It also will encourage development of courses, leadership programs and community partnerships that outlast the three-year grant.

Furthermore, the initiative will provide grants to faculty and staff to incorporate Heart of a Mustang concepts into their own work. This includes creating courses centered on ethics and values, and redesigning ones already in place.

Putting lessons into practice

SMU said the program “treats Dallas as an extension of the classroom” by helping students identify and refine values through public service, civic partnerships and real-world experiences. University spokesperson Megan Jacob said existing programs, such as SMU’s Engage Dallas initiative and Civil Rights Pilgrimage courses, present opportunities for that type of growth.

The Dallas Office of SMU — announced earlier this year to coordinate partnerships with the city — will help connect students with community-based learning opportunities, service projects and leadership programs. Additionally, Heart of a Mustang will offer community-based learning opportunities in South Dallas and West Dallas that go beyond a single visit or service project, the university said.

“The goal is to make engagement with Dallas more intentional and sustained so students are given opportunities to build relationships, reflect on those experiences and put the virtues into practice,” Jacob said.

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