Character education in higher education is a challenging enterprise. There are concerns regarding academic freedom, debates about the role of the university, and criticisms of purported indoctrination. Character education initiatives in the past have often erred by neglecting what is known about individual human development, at one extreme, or by slipping into moral relativism, at the other extreme. Nevertheless, character education in higher education can be a noble enterprise. Indeed, America's earliest colleges and universities were primarily concerned with the formation of character, an educational venture that dates back to ancient Greece. While studies of character development have shaped understandings of character formation over the past century, core philosophical understandings of character have retained a foundational influence. The use of character education in higher education is valued because it marks a return to the original principles of higher education's founding, yet it is a return that intends to avoid the elitist tendencies that too often excluded minorities from higher education in early America. Character Education with Resident Assistants (CERA) is a model that can be implemented or adapted to meet the unique needs of colleges and universities. CERA targets an influential population of student leaders on college campuses--resident assistants. It intends to develop the cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects of character through monthly training sessions that help resident assistants to know the good, love the good, and do the good. It is built upon the transforming literary power of biographical writings that depict exemplars who model virtue. In the end, CERA just might provide a firm foundation on which a student can develop as an individual, grow in respect for others, and contribute to a better society.