Alumnus Don Davis, smiling and wearing a green button down, sits on a couch with decorative wallpaper and lamp in the background.

Don Davis Program in Ethical Leadership

The mission of the Don Davis Program in Ethical Leadership is to promote professional, academic and personal integrity within the community of the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications.

The program has a special focus on the development of responsibility and integrity among undergraduates in the Bellisario College as part of their preparation to be the principled leaders of tomorrow’s media institutions.

The centerpiece of the program is a week-long coordinated program revolving around contemporary case studies that focus on the way a media outlet, agency, or company handled a thorny ethical issue.

Student Honor Code

A foundational part of the Don Davis Program in Ethical Leadership is the Honor Code, created by students and something to which students may pledge their support during their academic pursuits at Penn State.

Arms of the Davis Program

  1. Supporting development of professional ethics through the “ethics-across-the-curriculum" initiative;
  2. Promoting academic integrity among the College’s undergraduates; and
  3. Offering resources and support to faculty, staff and friends of the College in their efforts to advance integrity and responsibility across the field.