When Joseph Gutierrez started studying at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College of Education, he was focused on understanding organizations. He cared about justice, but was not sure how exactly that would play out in his work. When he was invited to participate as a fellow in the Cal Turner Program for Moral Leadership, that changed.
“I was already sort of thinking about the dimensions of justice and morality that organizations had, but those just existed in my head in an abstract way,” Gutierrez said. “The Cal Turner Program helped me crystallize these thoughts and, more importantly, made me reflect about what my own role as an individual is in leading organizations.”
After serving as an intern during his time at Vanderbilt, Gutierrez is now a program officer for the Dan and Margaret Maddox Fund, a foundation that funds nonprofit organizations in central Tennessee.
Helping students to discover their unique moral visions and vocations is no easy task. Each year, the Cal Turner Program for Moral Leadership at Vanderbilt University seeks to do just that with a cohort of faculty-nominated fellows from six professional schools: the Owen School of Management, the Peabody College of Education, the Law School, the School of Medicine, the School of Nursing, and the Divinity School.
“Learning to live ethically is not just something that happens in a required ethics class, but something that encompasses everything we do,” said Laine Walters Young, Assistant Director of the Cal Turner Program for Moral Leadership.
Created in 1994 by an endowment from Cal Turner Jr., the program aims to produce leaders who represent high achievement in their spheres of influence and leadership for the common good.
“One really meaningful part of the program was that it brought together a group of people from different departments around campus,” Gutierrez said. “At the time, it didn’t seem so important and I thought it was just some interesting feature of it all. In retrospect though, the interdisciplinary nature of the program helped me to shape and express thoughts in a way that would resonate with people that have entirely different approaches to work and worldviews.”
Walters Young agrees that the interdisciplinary cohort provides opportunities for challenging conversations and deeper community.
“The cross-professional community enriches the dialogue and helps participants think beyond their individual fields, “ Laine Walters said. “Having students come together from different backgrounds allows them to explore their ethical concerns in a way that goes beyond traditional professional boundaries.”
Drawing inspiration from Robert Franklin’s Moral Leadership: Courage, Integrity and Imagination, the fellowship helps students think through their moral priorities and how they can live those out in their chosen professions. The curriculum uses the seven strategies for character development promoted by the Oxford Character Project.
“Many students emerge from the program saying that they never had the space to consider their moral questions before to the depth that we do – and with others,” said Walters Young, noting that fellows find the opportunity for moral formation something they didn’t know they were missing.
Graduates of the fellowship have gone on to serve their communities in many ways. Lindsey Krinks cofounded Open Table Nashville, a nationally acclaimed interfaith homeless outreach nonprofit, while Molly Lasagna has pursued work in prison education and reform.
“I’ve seen the way the fellowship truly shapes how participants make decisions about their future,” Walters Young said. “One fellow turned down admission to Harvard Medical School – the more prestigious option – because a different medical school provided a better opportunity to work with low-income African-American women, and she realized that was central to her calling.” This deep sense of vocation is what the Cal Turner Program for Moral Leadership hopes all fellows will develop as they pursue their future careers.