Scholars at the Center for the Study of Religion & American Culture have been awarded a $100,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation to support the Compassionate University Project. This one-year exploratory grant will provide the opportunity to build a diverse national community to explore how universities advance the public good through work centered on the value of compassion.

The Compassionate University Project (CUP) in its pilot year will begin to identify and catalog aspects and models of compassion within colleges and universities. It will likewise explore the idea of compassion in relationship to institutions of higher learning, while attending to the unique ways in which the university is both an institution and a community situated within a wider public. The CUP will further explore ways in which compassion relates to and complements ideas and practices of justice, service, wellness, citizenship, education, and professionalization.

At the heart of this project are two ideas. First, compassion is needed more than ever before. In an era characterized by increasing political polarization, social isolation, and mistrust, Americans are eager to address the social fracture that afflicts their communities and their country. Compassion holds the potential to offer a way forward in rebuilding social connections, repairing our social and political fabric, and rejuvenating our communities and our democracy. Second, universities are institutions that are central to creating the future we want. Universities do more than just create and disseminate knowledge–they also drive social change and progress, build civil society, foster civic engagement, and shape how people understand one another. Universities are not only equipped to intervene in the world’s most pressing problems, but they have a responsibility to do so.

The beginning stages of this project will organize and facilitate conversations and research that engage a wide range of “compassionate identities” particular to the university. The CUP will draw from a wide range of disciplines, stakeholders (like faculty and staff, chaplains, students, and community-engaged partners), and practical experiences across a diverse set of universities. The project also endeavors to build a community of scholars and practitioners who are interested in the impact of this work as it shapes the future and transformational impact of the modern university.

The project will be led by Joseph L. Tucker Edmonds (Associate Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture; Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Africana Studies at Indiana University Indianapolis), Melissa M. Borja (Community Scholar in the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture; Associate Professor of American Culture at the University of Michigan), and Matthew C. Weiner (Senior Advisor to the Buddhist Ministry Program at the Harvard Divinity School; Associate Dean, Office of Religious Life at Princeton University).

About the Henry Luce Foundation

The Henry Luce Foundation seeks to deepen knowledge and understanding in pursuit of a more democratic and just world. Established in 1936 by Henry R. Luce, the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Time, Inc., the Luce Foundation advances its mission by nurturing knowledge communities and institutions, fostering dialogue across divides, enriching public discourse, amplifying diverse voices, and investing in leadership development.