Journal of College and Character

ISSN: 2194-587X (Print) 1940-1639 (Online) Journal homepage: https://naspa.tandfonline.com/loi/ujcc20

Ten Ways to Encourage Ethical Values in Beginning

College Students

Jon C. Dalton & Pamela C. Crosby

To cite this article: Jon C. Dalton & Pamela C. Crosby (2006) Ten Ways to Encourage
Ethical Values in Beginning College Students, Journal of College and Character, 7:7, , DOI:
10.2202/1940-1639.1239

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.2202/1940-1639.1239

© 2006 The Authors

Published online: 01 Sep 2006.

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Journal of College & Character VOLUME VII, NO. 7, September 2006

From the Editors

Ten Ways to Encourage Ethical Values in Beginning College Students

Jon Dalton, Co-editor

Pamela Crosby, Co-editor
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H undreds of thousands of new students will begin college this fall, and most colleges and
universities have designed elaborate orientation activities to induct beginning students into
the academic and social cultures of their campuses. These orientation activities are usually
crammed with advising and registration information, academic and social rituals, campus tours
and welcoming activities designed to help new students get off to a good start in their academic
study and navigate their way around their new surroundings. Most colleges and universities also
make an effort to transmit some important core ethical values that are central to the mission and
social culture of the institution and help to define the institution’s expectations for being an
ethically responsible student and citizen on campus. Ethical values such as respect for others,
honesty, self-discipline, hard work, love of learning, and appreciation of diversity are some of the
core values many colleges and universities prize. But how do institutions go about promoting
these core values with new students and what are some effective educational approaches? We
focus here on out of class activities since most students spend the majority of their time in this
domain of college life and these activities are especially important for new students.
Colleges and universities often seek to transmit ethical values to new students through
orientation speeches, publications, convocations, and other public statements. Unfortunately,
these approaches to inculcating core ethical values usually occur when new students are already
in information “overload” and not in a receptive mood for moral lessons pronounced from on
high by college officials. Typically new students see college as a time for liberation from strict
moral codes and an opportunity to explore and experiment with beliefs and behaviors. So the
timing for teaching ethical values is often not especially effective during orientation. Moreover,
moral values such as honesty, compassion, fairness, and respect for others, are probably best
taught not by “telling” college students but by providing collegiate experiences in which these
virtues arise naturally in the context of students’ interests, involvements and commitments. From
our observation of college life over many years, we think the following ten types of out of class
collegiate activities can have an especially powerful influence on students’ moral and civic
learning in college. They are powerful because they provide the kinds of experiences and settings
which stimulate moral reflection and ethical decision-making and are grounded in compelling and
authentic personal experiences that connect students with the needs and problems of other people.

1. Community Service & Service Learning

Few collegiate activities provide so many rich opportunities for students to deepen their
understanding of others and self and to encourage ethical reflection as participation in
community service activities. These activities bring students into contact with real human
problems and challenge students to examine these issues and to reflect upon their own
beliefs and values.

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2 Journal of College and Character VOLUME VII, NO.7, September 2006

2. Religious and Spiritual Activities

For most undergraduates today the college years are a time of much self-searching,
identity development, and decision-making. This inward search for meaning and purpose
by students is very often framed in a religious and/or spiritual context. Religious and
spiritual activities can help students to explore their inner life and to find a sense of
wholeness and integrated life. The spirituality “movement” on campuses today is an
important indicator of students’ interests in religion and spirituality and a reminder of the
need for colleges and universities to support these types of activities for students.

3. Leadership Education
The popularity of leadership programs among college students and the intrinsic
connections of ethical considerations to leadership roles and responsibilities make
leadership education a powerful forum for character development.

4. Diversity Education
The diversification of students in American colleges and universities has helped to
reshape much of higher education over the past forty years. Today, diversity education
represents a very popular educational strategy utilized by colleges and universities to
promote understanding and appreciation of human differences. At the heart of such
education is the development of moral values and behaviors such as respect for others,
tolerance, fairness, and empathy and an acceptance of pluralism as a positive aspect of
community and society. Diversity education is also one of the important ways that higher
education contributes to the development of civic skills for a democratic society.

5. Peer Advising and Leadership

Few things teach students responsibility, understanding of others, and self-awareness as
the responsibility of advising and leading peers. There are many opportunities in the
college setting for students to serve as peer advisers and leaders, and these roles can
provide powerful moral development experiences, especially if they include opportunities
for reflection and discussion.

6. Disciplinary and Judicial Programs

During their undergraduate years many college students will participate in college
disciplinary procedures as a result of violating institutional rules and regulations. New
students are among the most frequent violators of college rules because of alcohol use
and other behaviors that bring them into conflict with student conduct rules. When
organized and administered for educational purposes the college disciplinary process can
be very useful in helping college students to reflect on the moral and social consequences
of their behavior and to take greater personal responsibility for the decisions they make.

7. Participation in Student Governance Organizations and Activities

Students often learn best by doing, and there are few areas of campus life where students
are given as much responsibility for independence and self-governance as in activities
such as student government, residence halls government, student clubs and organizations,
and student activities. In these leadership roles students have many opportunities to share
in institutional governance by creating programs, policies, and procedures; debating
conflicting values; rendering fair and just decisions; and bearing the consequences for the
actions they take.

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 From the Editors 3

8. Recreational Coaching, Refereeing, and Judging

Recreation is one of the most popular activities of today’s college students. Thousands of
students serve as coaches, referees, personal trainers, judges and leaders of a vast array of
student recreational activities and sports. In these roles students mediate conflicts,
facilitate fair play, provide feedback and advice, and assist and guide their peers. Such
experiences can be very influential in promoting self-reflection and awareness and
teaching personal ethics and decision-making.

9. Student Activities Programming

While student activities are often regarded as student entertainment, there is much about
these campus activities that encourage moral and civic learning. Speaker programs bring
to campus important leaders in the arts, politics, and entertainment. Student galleries
display the artistic creations of students, faculty, alumni and professional artists. Craft
programs provide opportunities for students to develop talents and to explore the creative
process. Coffee houses, open mike programs, and discussion roundtables give students
opportunities to debate and discuss current topics and issues. A thoughtfully designed
student activities program can contribute to the creation of a rich campus environment of
intellectual and ethical reflection.

10. Travel
College students are always on the move and frequently take trips away from the campus.
Traveling provides a temporary respite from campus routines and obligations and
provides important opportunities for fun and friendships. College students participate in
off-campus adventure trips such as hiking, campus canoeing, mountaineering. They head
for the beaches, take road trips, participate in retreats, excursion, volunteer projects,
spring break programs, internships and studies abroad. Many of these activities are
college sponsored but some are organized by students themselves. Some types of travel
have the potential to provide students with new experiences that provoke self-
examination and cause them to challenge themselves in ways they cannot in the campus
setting. Travel has always had profound effects on human values and understanding and
it still works its spell on college students.

Almost all of these out of class activities can be connected in creative ways to academic
classes and many already are at some institutions. When they are linked in educationally
purposeful ways, the potential for impact on students’ moral and ethical development can be
greatly enhanced.

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