Message from the Director

We hear time and again that ethics is lacking in our society, as though we were somehow morally worse off than previous times. Yet every age has complained of moral decline, and the complaints become louder during times of rapid transition. 

Our society is morally bewildered by the changes it is undergoing. Often the clear and basic values we teach our youth offer no straightforward and obvious guidance to the problems we face in our volatile, pluralistic world. Genetic engineering, global trade, end-of-life care, technological invasions of privacy: these are just a few examples of new and profound problems without ready answers. 

Does this mean that traditional ethical values are obsolete? Absolutely not. In fact, they are more relevant than ever, but it can be increasingly difficult to see how. The D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership seeks to shed light on the meaning and application of ethical values to our present world. We have initiated a series of yearly programs to explore how such traditional values as Hospitality, Community, Stewardship, and Service offer answers to contemporary ethical concerns.

By bringing together leading thinkers who have researched these questions in a variety of fields and individuals whose lives express their deep commitment to ethical values, we hope that together we will gain insight into the most urgent challenges of our times. 

As you browse this site, we hope you will find resources and programs that address your concerns. 

Richard Kyte, Ph.D.
Director
D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership

About the Institute

An Institute for Ethics in Leadership was first proposed in January 1992, and became a part of the strategic planning process during the next three years. The Institute for Ethics in Leadership is now a significant component in Viterbo's vision for the future: The University of Opportunity.

The first major commitments to the Institute were acknowledged in 1997 when business and corporate leaders established a $500,000 endowment to be used to provide public programming at the Institute. In 1998, the Institute was officially designated the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership. The Institute was begun in 1999.

As a values-based institution, the university commits itself to developing a distinctive national reputation for designing undergraduate and graduate curricula emphasizing moral and ethical issues. Viterbo is one of the few universities in the U.S. that has curricula in which every class has a moral or value component which emphasizes the ethical issues relative to the particular subject matter of that course. Development of the critical intellect within an ethical framework in every academic discipline is unique.

Mission

The mission of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership is to promote the concepts of ethics in leadership as integral to the advancement of American society and to promote leadership and ethics in courses, conferences, workshops, and public forums for the students of area high schools and colleges, the employers and employees of the Coulee Region, and the people of western Wisconsin, northeastern Iowa, and southeastern Minnesota.

Fundraising for this major initiative is ongoing. Individuals who wish to make a donation may contact Gary Klein, vice president for Institutional Advancement at 608-796-3070 or glklein@viterbo.edu.