Funding creates opportunity for Ramapo College students to learn about leadership from Ramapough Munsee Nation members

March 6, 2025

by Liz Mendicino ’26

The Ramapough Munsee Indigenous Partnership Task Force at Ramapo College has been awarded an Educating Character Initiative Teacher-Scholar Grant for $15,000 from the Educating Character Initiative (ECI), a part of the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University. The Ramapough Munsee task force was selected as one of only 12 recipients in 2025.

Instead of telling people how to be an ethical leader, the project aims to learn from the Ramapough Munsee Nation’s leaders through their lived experiences what it entails to be a leader and have them directly share their experiences with Ramapo College students. This grant will allow Ramapo students to grow from hands-on experiences with the community, and make meaningful connections to the historical and cultural significance of the Ramapough Luunape tribe. 

The Ramapough Munsee Indigenous Partnership Task Force is composed of Ramapo faculty, staff, and students who research the history of the College and the land it sits on, explore the College’s relationship with the Ramapough Munsee Luunape Nation, and provide guidance on how Ramapo College may acknowledge that history and strengthen the relationship. 

The Teacher-Scholar Grant is awarded to individuals who wish to research character and/or character education in undergraduate education, develop specific projects or resources aimed at strengthening their institution’s and the larger network’s capacity to educate character effectively, and/or pursue professional development as a character educator. 

The mission of the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University is to inspire, educate, and empower leaders of character to serve humanity. Through innovative teaching, creative programming, and cutting-edge research, the Program aims to transform the lives of students, foster an inclusive culture of leadership and character, and catalyze a broader public conversation that places character at the center of leadership.