HAVERFORD, PA — Haverford College recently announced a $25 million donation from alumnus Michael B. Kim to establish the Institute for Ethical Inquiry and Leadership. This initiative underscores the institution’s longstanding tradition of integrating ‘trust, concern, and respect’ into the fabric of its education system, aiming to prepare students for a life of thoughtful community engagement and ethical decision-making.
Michael Kim, a 1985 graduate of the college, emphasized the centrality of ethical inquiry to the Haverford educational experience and the importance of incorporating ethics into leadership. The newly founded Institute for Ethical Inquiry and Leadership promises to innovate how ethics are taught and practiced within and beyond the college community by adopting an interdisciplinary approach coupled with international engagement.
The institute seeks to enhance the college’s liberal arts education by offering a program that is at once innovative, residential, and action-oriented towards ethics. It plans to engage students in a cross-disciplinary practice-based approach, stressing the significance of ethical impact and global engagement in liberal arts work. The curriculum will include a new Ethical Inquiry and Leadership sequence, endowed professorships across the liberal arts, staffing and programming support for community engagement, and a new building designed to facilitate teaching, research, and active projects aligned with the institute’s goals.
Haverford President Wendy Raymond hailed the donation as a clear expression of the college’s dedication to an ethically centered liberal arts education. She highlighted the institute’s role in providing students with interdisciplinary opportunities to prepare for lives guided by integrity, ambition, and purpose.
Michael Kim has had a long history of involvement with Haverford, including serving on its Board of Managers and contributing to the college’s infrastructure through philanthropy. His latest gift aims to catalyze further fundraising efforts to bring the vision of the Ethical Inquiry and Leadership Institute to full fruition. This move not only reiterates Kim’s commitment to his alma mater but also sets a new benchmark for how colleges can integrate ethical considerations into their core educational missions.
This groundbreaking initiative at Haverford College illustrates the growing recognition of the need for ethical leadership in today’s complex global landscape. By instilling a deep understanding and practice of ethics in students, the institute aims to equip future leaders with the foundational values necessary to tackle the myriad challenges of our times, reinforcing the college’s mission of academic excellence and its distinctive, values-based community ethos.
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