W&L Joins the Project Pericles National Consortium for Civic Learning Membership in the consortium gives the university access to grants and fellowships that support civic learning for students and the local community.

By Brian Laubscher
October 1, 2026

Washington and Lee University recently accepted an invitation to join Project Pericles, a national consortium of colleges and universities dedicated to making community-engaged civic learning a central part of the undergraduate experience.

Founded in 2001, Project Pericles distinguishes community-engaged civic learning from traditional service or volunteerism by integrating it into the classroom, the campus and the surrounding community. The organization has also developed the concept of “civic prosperity,” which connects civic learning and participation with economic mobility and shared well-being.

“W&L’s invitation to join Project Pericles reflects the strength of our Community-Based Learning (CBL) program,” said Lena Hill, provost and professor of English. “CBL Director Sascha Goluboff’s extraordinary leadership — together with her team’s commitment to meaningful partnerships among our students, faculty and the wider community — has deepened and expanded opportunities at W&L. I am grateful for her work and excited to see how this new partnership will help us build on that momentum as we continue to enhance civic learning at the university.”

W&L was among a small number of colleges and universities that were invited to apply for membership in the latest cycle. The application process considered several factors including senior-level institutional commitment, curricular integration, sustainability and the strength of each institution’s existing civic infrastructure.

Membership gives W&L access to the consortium’s grant programs and provides opportunities for faculty, staff and students to collaborate with colleagues at other member institutions. Over the past five years, Project Pericles has awarded more than $800,000 in direct grant funding to member campuses, with individual institutions eligible for as much as $20,000. Current Project Pericles programs include Catalyst Grants, which support institution-wide efforts to embed community-engaged civic learning into campus structures, and Periclean Faculty Leader Course Grants, which support faculty developing or redesigning courses around civic learning and community engagement.

“Membership in Project Pericles will connect W&L to a strong network of civically minded institutions with which we can share ideas and build sustainable and impactful programming,” Goluboff said. “I look forward to attending my first Program Director Conference this October.”

As a Project Pericles member, W&L commits to maintaining an active campus liaison, engaging with at least one Periclean grant program each year and contributing an annual membership payment that supports the consortium’s grants and convenings.

W&L’s acceptance into Project Pericles comes on the heels of positive results from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), administered to W&L first-year students and seniors at the end of the 2025-26 academic year. Both groups reported a significantly higher average than peer institutions on several questions, including how often they connected their learning to societal problems or issues and to what degree their experience at W&L has contributed to them being an informed and active citizen. These both emphasize how important civic learning and engagement are to the university’s student community.

Through its Project Pericles membership, W&L can expand opportunities for students to explore and nurture positive civic outcomes through coursework and engagement with the local community.