Key Gifts

The Seed
Linda and A.C. "Mike" Markkula Jr. saw the potential for an ethics center at Santa Clara University when the organization was just an idea being floated among faculty and staff. The Markkulas gave the seed money for the Center and later the first major gift to endowment . In addition, the Markkula Family Foundation, with leadership from Kristi Bowers, has been a crucial and continuing supporter of the Center's Character Education Program. Gifts to endowment, the source of funding for many of the basic operations of the Center, are still a crucial fundraising goal.

University President Paul Locatelli, S.J., and Mike Markkula enjoy the Center's 20th anniversary celebration.

Ethics R&D
The lifeblood of an academic institution focused on ethics is rigorous research. What went wrong at WorldCom? How can a dictatorship be transformed into a democracy? Can computer games help young people to become more civically engaged? These are examples of research that has been supported by Ethics Center grants through an endowment from Michael and Joan Hackworth. Donors with more specific areas of interest have also helped to encourage research in areas from environmental ethics to engineering ethics. Your gift can underwrite the basic research necessary to create workable solutions to ethical dilemmas.

Michael and Joan Hackworth, [2nd and 3rd from left] are joined by Hackworth Fellows, whose work at the Center they have supported.

Encouraging Dialog
The first step in getting people to behave more ethically is to get them thinking. The Regan Lectures, made possible in part by a gift from New York Life in honor of William Regan III, have been one way the Center has been able to involve the public in conversation about ethical issues, be they the fate of the world's oceans (Leon Panetta) or the conduct of scientific research (Donald Kennedy). Other donors have helped the Center to focus on particular public policy questions, such as Agnieszka Winkler and Art Lund, who funded several presentations on immigration. You can bring experts to the Santa Clara University campus to engage with students, faculty, and the community on the crucial ethical issues of our time.

Richard Rodriguez, author of Brown: The Last Discovery of America, speaks at SCU on ethics and immigration.

Ideas into Action
The Honzel Family Foundation has supported not only research on major issues in medical ethics but also programs that disseminate that learning. The Conserved Patient Project looked at how to improve medical decision making for patients in the care of public guardians. That research led to training for all public guardians in Santa Clara County, and a Web site offering policy recommendations, cases, and other resources available to guardians across the country. The Honzels are also supporting research on culturally competent care -that is, health care that respects the different religious and ethnic traditions represented in American society. This work includes training materials for physicians and other health care professionals. A donation to the Ethics Center can result in practical tools to help professionals confront hard ethical choices.

Bioethics Director Margaret R. McLean trains a group of public officials on the ethical challenges of pandemic planning.

Scholarships
Undergraduates are not the only people who need help with their education. Attendees at our training programs for teachers and government officials also require scholarships. Michael E. Fox Sr. has sent several local government leaders to Ethics and Leadership Camp for Public Officials, a two-day, intensive workshop that provides attendees with a framework for ethical decision making, as well as a chance to share best practices. With funding for local governments and school districts so tight, many do not have the spare funds to pay camp fees, but with your help, scholarships can allow educators, councilmembers, mayors, and others to receive this crucial training in ethics.

Senior Fellow in Government Ethics Judy Nadler and Ethics Camp for Public Officials benefactor Michael E. Fox Sr.

Partners
The Ethics Center partners with many other organizations, especially through our Business and Organizational Ethics Partnership. Executives like Mark Bertelsen, a senior partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, serve as the point people in bringing the benefits of this group to their organizations. Working with faculty scholars at SCU and other institutions, the Partnership identifies emerging business ethics challenges and learns how they can be met. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati also recently partnered with the Ethics Center to bring a Supreme Court Justice from the State of Delaware to speak to groups both on and off campus. You can bring your company or organization into partnership with the Ethics Center.

Business and Organizational Ethics partners hear a presentation on the changing American workplace by Ed Lawler.

Small is Beautiful
You don't need a lot of money to be a philanthropist at the Ethics Center. Our character education programs need books and supplies. Our copier needs reams of paper for the myriad handouts we pass out at events, such as "Unavoidable Ethical Dilemmas" about video gaming or social networking or search engines. Our Undergraduate Health Care Ethics Interns are sustained by pizza. Our Ethics at Noon speakers receive small stipends. Join the hundreds of regular donors, whose small gifts contribute to a big whole.

Books and supplies for a Center training session on integrating ethics into the science curriculum.

The Gift of Time
In addition to monetary contributions, some Ethics Center supporters give major gifts of their time. Paula Mitchell, director of alternative education for the Santa Clara County Office of Education, has been a tireless source of help on curriculum development and strategy for our Character Education Programs. Sr. Joan Steadman, now associate director of health care ethics, came to the Center first as a volunteer with our Undergraduate Health Care Ethics Interns at O'Connor Hospital. If you have a background in applied ethics or how ethical issues arise in your profession, we can use your expertise.

A health care ethics intern gets a first-hand look at ethical dilemmas in a hospital setting.

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