Free Enterprise Center (FEC)
Our Mission: We believe that real relationships between our students and our neighbors can lead to solutions that support dignity and reduce dependence.
Our Vision: Cultivating virtuous leaders who embrace the role of free enterprise in developing healthy communities.
The Free Enterprise Center (FEC) will achieve this vision by acting as a University hub for activities relevant to free enterprise in the lives of our students, faculty and alumni.
The FEC promotes:
- Appreciation for free markets and the entrepreneurial mindset
- The cultivation of the virtues conducive to a free society
- The neighborhood stabilization philanthropy model
Through the work of the FEC, students will learn constitutional law and the benefits of free markets. The center will be unique with its focus on effective philanthropy. Students will learn the principles to be actively involved in neighborhood stabilization efforts.
The Student Fellows Program coordinates students interested in the FEC’s vision and values, and funnels them into conference, internship and fellowship opportunities.
We coordinate with liberty-oriented organizations such as the CRCD, The Acton Institute, The Intercollegiate Studies Institute, The Institute for Humane Studies and Capitaf.
Testimonials
“Being a Free Enterprise Center student fellow over the past three years has given me an intentional place to nourish the life of the mind through our discussions on thoughtful literature, unique and beautiful events hosted on campus, and off-campus seminars and fellowships. Connecting me with the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy’s Shaftesbury Fellowship, teaching me about true charity, and pushing me to consider new ideas like black classical education and questioning the narratives of both democrats and republicans are some of the ways the FEC has honed my skills and development as a scholar, person, and citizen.”
—Nadia Hartwig, CUC student
"I was part of the Free Enterprise Center for five semesters, and it was one of the most meaningful parts of my college experience. FEC is about bringing faith, economics, and culture together in a real and thoughtful way. Through discussions, books and conversations, I learned how to look at business, charity, and community from a different perspective.
What I loved most was the focus on true charity and the idea that entrepreneurship can be used to help people and make a difference without falling into toxic charity. Being part of the Free Enterprise Center helped me grow not just as a student, but as a person. It made me think more about how I can use what I learn to serve others, build something that matters, and find a connection between my faith and my career in business."
—Paulina Gonzales, CUC student
FEC Leadership
Rachel Ferguson is the director of the Free Enterprise Center, assistant dean of the College of Business and professor of business ethics at Concordia University Chicago. She also serves as an affiliate scholar of the Acton Institute and is co-author of Black Liberation Through the Marketplace: Hope, Heartbreak, and the Promise of America.
Her commentary has been featured at the Christian Post, the Acton Power Blog, Discourse Magazine, Law and Liberty, EconLib and the Online Library of Liberty.
