The role of character development in higher education in the United States has been shaped by events going back more than 2,000 years. The following timeline highlights some of the key dates in this history.
| 600 BC: |
The Ten Commandments form the foundation of Judaism. |
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| 350-330 BC: |
Aristotle establishes the Lyceum and authors Nicomachean Ethics. |
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| 33 AD: |
Jesus gives the Sermon on the Mount |
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| 1531: |
St. Ignatius writes the Book of Spiritual Exercises. Thirty years later, this book leads to the Ratio Studiorum, the educational blueprint used by generations of Jesuit schools. |
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| 1807: |
Francis Cummins, a senior at the College of New Jersey (soon to be Princeton University) is expelled for harassing townspeople after imbibing too freely at a local tavern. The college's decision sparks student protests in what is now called The Great Princeton Rebellion of 1807. |
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| 1837: |
Oberlin College in Ohio admits four women as full students in its freshman class to become the nation's first coeducational institution of higher learning. |
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| 1842: |
The Honor System at the University of Virginia is established, with the beginning words "on my honor...." |
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| 1862: |
The Morrill Act establishes the nation's system of public land-grant colleges and universities with the explicit purpose of serving their states and communities. |
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| 1900: |
William Rainey Harper, president of the University of Chicago, delivers an address in which he explicitly calls for the end of the in loco parentis doctrine. |
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| 1960: |
Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy proposes formation of the Peace Corps in a speech on the steps of the student union at the University of Michigan. |
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| 1962: |
Four students from North Carolina A&T State University refuse to leave a segregated lunch counter after being refused service. Their action inspires similar sit-ins in other cities throughout the South lasting six months, until store managers agree to integrate their lunch counters. |
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| 1970: |
William Perry authors the highly-influential book Forms of Intellectual and Ethical Development in the College Years. |
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| 1985: |
Campus Compact is formed to help college students develop the values and skills of citizenship through participation in public and community service. |
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| 1989: |
All states establish 21 as the legal drinking age and Congress passes the Drug- Free Schools and Communities Act. |
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| 1999: |
The Templeton Guide: Colleges that Encourage Character Development is published. |
