Ripon College is committed to an ongoing tradition of education which frees its participants from narrow and provincial blinders by bringing to bear on the problems of the present the accumulated and tested wisdom that has preceded us. This perspective and this process enable our students to bring to their lives and to their careers a sense of balance, purpose and participation in a continuous tradition. That tradition allows us to be truly innovative and fully integrative.

Ripon College recently established an Ethical Leadership Program. This program is designed to integrate into every student's experience the study and experience of ethical issues. It is our goal that every course consider ethical issues and every activity develop an ethical awareness dimension. A solid ethical base must grow from the study of the past; ethical leaders must apply their learning to the problems of the present; the study and practice of ethical leadership will prepare us for the issues of the future. Ripon College has the potential to provide for our students, our immediate community and, by outreach, an example for the larger community a program of study, action and collaborative interaction which will integrate the various studies of our educational program with the practical needs of our society, and demonstrate not just the importance, but also the effectiveness of ethical leadership.

The Ripon College Ethical Leadership Program is based on the same philosophical point of view as Ripon College. That point of view is firmly grounded in the philosophical and educational stance of the Western tradition: believing in the inherent dignity and value of the individual, the rights and freedoms that follow from that value and the commitment to justice and integrity needed to realize that value in our lives. That tradition emphasizes firm principles, careful thought and broadly based understanding as essential to ethical integrity. The Ethical Leadership Program, then, does not require a particular course or a particular thinker. Rather, we bring in business people, lawyers, educators, doctors, clergy, scientists and others and ask them to present a case study of an ethical situation they faced and to explore with us how they resolved it. Similarly, in courses and out-of-class activities, we engage the students in careful analysis and mentored discussions of ethical problems so that they learn to reason their way through the issues giving adequate attention to motive, process and outcome. We do not believe that ethical decisions are made simply on the basis of theory, but are hard decisions requiring expert knowledge as well as good intentions.

Our program is growing inductively rather than being formed deductively. We have an advisory board whose most significant contribution is helping to set outcome objectives and to develop assessment strategies. We are proud of their commitment to the program, of their experience in dealing with such issues and of their insistence on accountability. Thus, our framework is a group of dedicated people rather than a single philosophical position.

Our board is composed of: Victoria L. Bliese, Camille A. Burke, James P. Connelly, Scott L. Dicks, Jane Runkel Frederick, Owen P. Gleason, Claire Santeralli Gregoire and Pamela Smith.