The grant will fund the launch of the college’s new GRACE initiative (Growing through Respectful and Civil Exchange).
Hope College has received a grant in the amount of $1.43 million from the US Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). This specific grant has been awarded through FIPSE’s Special Projects Program to provide education institutions with funding to work toward innovative solutions for problems that are facing the country. The grant will assist the college in launching its new GRACE initiative (Growing through Respectful and Civil Exchange).
According to an article on Hope College’s website, Dr. Gerald Griffin, the college’s provost and the grant’s principal investigator, was quoted as saying of the grant, “We’re grateful for the opportunities that exist through this grant. The new GRACE project will support Hope in our Chrisitan mission and expand the impact of our virtues of public discourse. Through that, we’ll foster civil dialogue and empower our students – and this community — in open inquiry and a deeper understanding of viewpoint diversity. It’s important they know how to respect the dignity of all humankind while also respecting their own beliefs and convictions.”
The GRACE initiative will help students have respectful dialogue and will encourage civil debates on campus that will navigate different cultural perspectives and improve the campus community. The grant will fund the GRACE initiative for the next four years, with efforts including a lecture series, organizing student cohorts, and providing faculty support to develop curriculum.
In addition, the grant will fund the college’s initiative to develop public scholarship surrounding its Virtues of Public Discourse, which include Humility to listen; Hospitality to welcome; Patience to understand; Courage to challenge; and Honesty to speak the truth in love.
Dr. Sarah Kornfield has been selected as the GRACE initiative’s program director. She is chair of the Communication Department, as well as a professor. Among the courses she teaches are women’s and gender studies, rhetorical criticism, rhetorical theory, and television culture. Additionally, she is a published author and is on the Rhetoric Society of America’s Board of Directors.
For more information about Hope College, visit the school’s website.