{"id":1165,"date":"2026-02-18T21:24:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T02:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bsu.edu\/civics\/?page_id=1165"},"modified":"2026-02-22T10:53:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T15:53:21","slug":"c4g","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.bsu.edu\/civics\/c4g\/","title":{"rendered":"C4G"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Cultivating Civic Character for the Common Good (C4G)<\/h1>\n<p class=\"c4g-lede\">\nC4G is a faculty-led initiative at Ball State University designed to strengthen ethical citizenship by embedding character formation into the curriculum, cocurriculum, and institutional culture of a public research university.\n  <\/p>\n<div class=\"c4g-box\">\n<p class=\"c4g-label\"><strong>In one sentence<\/strong>: C4G cultivates civic character\u2014virtues such as justice, courage, responsibility, <div id=\"attachment_1201\" style=\"width: 210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1201\" src=\"https:\/\/bsu-wpe-sites.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2026\/02\/22094117\/24_MC-65312_6025-copy-scaled-e1771771320233.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"133\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1201\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1201\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The 2024 Civic Learning Symposium<\/p><\/div>respect, gratitude, and hope\u2014so that civic engagement becomes ethical leadership and constructive democratic participation.\n    <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Why C4G<\/h2>\n<p>\nMany civic education efforts focus on civic knowledge and skills, but neglect the deeper formation of moral virtues essential for ethical citizenship. C4G responds to this national challenge by making character education intentional, dialogical, and critically reflective\u2014grounded in reflective practice, ethical action, and community engagement.\n  <\/p>\n<h2>The C4G character framework<\/h2>\n<p>\nIn C4G, virtues are understood as stable dispositions that integrate perception, cognition, emotion, motivation, and action\u2014shaping how people respond in admirable ways across the spheres of life.\n  <\/p>\n<div class=\"c4g-box\">\n<p class=\"c4g-label\">Core civic virtues<\/p>\n<ul class=\"c4g-list\">\n<li><strong>Justice<\/strong> \u2014 fairness, equity, and a commitment to the common good<\/li>\n<li><strong>Civic courage<\/strong> \u2014 the strength to do what is right, especially under pressure<\/li>\n<li><strong>Responsibility<\/strong> \u2014 accountability to others and follow-through on commitments<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"c4g-label\" style=\"margin-top:14px\">Relational virtues<\/p>\n<ul class=\"c4g-list\">\n<li><strong>Respect<\/strong> \u2014 honoring dignity across differences<\/li>\n<li><strong>Gratitude<\/strong> \u2014 recognizing interconnectedness and support from others<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hope<\/strong> \u2014 commitment to constructive engagement and belief in positive change<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<h2>What C4G does<\/h2>\n<p>\nC4G builds a multi-tiered network of character-infused learning opportunities designed to scale across programs and departments.\n  <\/p>\n<div class=\"c4g-grid\">\n<div class=\"c4g-box\">\n<p class=\"c4g-label\">Faculty development<\/p>\n<ul class=\"c4g-list\">\n<li>Faculty-led learning communities and workshops<\/li>\n<li>Course redesign support to integrate civic character outcomes<\/li>\n<li>Shared tools for reflection, dialogue, and assessment<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<div class=\"c4g-box\">\n<p class=\"c4g-label\">Civic Studies Minor<\/p>\n<ul class=\"c4g-list\">\n<li>A formal academic pathway with approved courses<\/li>\n<li>Interdisciplinary learning aligned to civic virtue education<\/li>\n<li>Opportunities for community-engaged learning and synthesis<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<div class=\"c4g-box\">\n<p class=\"c4g-label\">Experiential learning<\/p>\n<ul class=\"c4g-list\">\n<li>Engagement with community exemplars and mentors<\/li>\n<li>Structured reflection connecting experience to virtue growth<\/li>\n<li>Projects that translate values into ethical civic action<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<div class=\"c4g-box\">\n<p class=\"c4g-label\">A replicable model<\/p>\n<ul class=\"c4g-list\">\n<li>A campus-wide framework other universities can adapt<\/li>\n<li>Alignment with national networks advancing civic virtue<\/li>\n<li>Shared resources that support adoption and scaling<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Community and national partnerships<\/h2>\n<p>\nC4G is strengthened by collaboration with respected institutions and organizations. Letters of support reflect both regional and national collaboration and affirm the value of C4G as a model for civic-infused character in higher education.\n  <\/p>\n<div class=\"c4g-box\">\n<p class=\"c4g-label\">Selected endorsing partners (public list)<\/p>\n<ul class=\"c4g-list\">\n<li>Ackerman Center for Democratic Citizenship, Purdue University<\/li>\n<li>James Madison University<\/li>\n<li>Tufts University, Tisch College of Civic Life<\/li>\n<li>Business for America<\/li>\n<li>Indiana Bar Foundation<\/li>\n<li>Center on Representative Government, Indiana University<\/li>\n<li>Taylor University<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<h2>Commitment to student opportunity<\/h2>\n<p>\nAs a public research institution committed to inclusive excellence, Ball State serves a significant population of first-generation college students and Pell Grant recipients. C4G is designed so that these students benefit directly from civic and character education through high-impact practices such as immersive learning, community engagement, and interdisciplinary coursework.\n  <\/p>\n<div class=\"c4g-box c4g-cta\">\n<p class=\"c4g-label\">Get involved<\/p>\n<p class=\"c4g-muted\">Replace the URLs below with your WordPress page links or form links.<\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"primary\" href=\"[GET_INVOLVED_URL]\">Get involved<\/a><br \/>\n    <a class=\"secondary\" href=\"[FACULTY_URL]\">Faculty<\/a><br \/>\n    <a class=\"secondary\" href=\"[STUDENTS_URL]\">Students<\/a><br \/>\n    <a class=\"secondary\" href=\"[PARTNERS_URL]\">Community partners<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-top:12px\" class=\"c4g-muted\">\n      Contact: <strong>[NAME]<\/strong> \u00b7 <strong>[EMAIL]<\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cultivating Civic Character for the Common Good (C4G) C4G is a faculty-led initiative at Ball State University designed to strengthen ethical citizenship by embedding character formation into the curriculum, cocurriculum, and institutional culture of a public research university. In one sentence: C4G cultivates civic character\u2014virtues such as justice, courage, responsibility, respect, gratitude, and hope\u2014so that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":966,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1165","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>C4G - Center for Economic and Civic Learning<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.bsu.edu\/civics\/c4g\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"C4G - Center for Economic and Civic Learning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cultivating Civic Character for the Common Good (C4G) C4G is a faculty-led initiative at Ball State University designed to strengthen ethical citizenship by embedding character formation into the curriculum, cocurriculum, and institutional culture of a public research university. 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