Page 69 - ACTL Journal_Sum24

There are three broad categories where the Wake Forest Leadership and Character program focuses:
STUDENT FOCUS FACULTY FOCUS OUTWARD FOCUS
The goal again is to form good lawyers, not just com- petent, skilled, effective lawyers, but ethical lawyers who live and lead with integrity. So where do I fit in? We all have a role to play. A theme that has emerged is that all is not right in the world. Whether it is extreme polarization, distrust with lawyers in the legal profession, or a mental health crisis, things need to be improved and we all need to recognize that these are urgent, important concerns.
3Ls who go through intensive, three-year programming where they meet every other week to develop their own leadership and character capacities. There are other cohort programs that are valuable but that are not quite as high-touch. A bar mentorship program was also developed for students who are taking the bar. Regular student leadership development pro- gramming is open to anyone.
The most important way of reaching students is still through the classroom. There are three classroom partnerships with law school faculty. Courses have been revamped to integrate and elevate leadership, character, and professional identify forma- tion content. Examples are not only courses in professional responsibility but also courses like criminal law and criminal procedure. There are specific clinics, including an intellectual property law clinic. Other new courses related to leadership and character in the law have been designed.
None of this would be possible if not for an engaged faculty. Effort is made to better understand what their interests and
needs are. Surveys of faculty lend understanding of what can be most helpful. An established partners council hears from faculty to get their ideas and input, enabling the professors to share the Program for Leadership and Character with other colleagues. The program organizes retreats, pedagogy groups, and reading circles. A significant program over the last few years has been in course development and redesign workshops. The program provides small grants and then works with faculty to design or redesign courses so that they integrate leadership and character content.
The outward-facing work touches a number of different au- diences. It is intended to engage both alumni and faculty and the legal community. The Program for Character and Leadership mission statement specifically concludes that it will “aim to catalyze a broader public conversation that plac- es character at the center of leadership.”
We produce traditional scholarship and academic schol- arship, but also have an eye toward more public forms of scholarship, all to share ideas and to be part of a broader public conversation. We also host events, conferences, and other convenings. We’ve been the co-sponsor for the Wake Forest Law Review Symposium. In one program, Leader- ship and Character in the Profession at Wake Forest, cele- brated lawyer and activist Bryan Stevenson spoke with our students and helped them learn more about his journey and his experiences.
The work that we have undertaken at Wake Forest has gone better than imagined. The Program for Leadership and Character has grown over five years ago, from two employees to a thirty-five-member team that has raised over $50 mil- lion to support this work. There is is a growing recognition that things must change and that we all have a role to play in effecting this change.
We need to be attentive to this holistic formation of lawyers, physicians, engineers, and other leaders in our world.
G. Mark Phillips Charleston, SC
SUMMER 2024 JOURNAL 68