In 1997 Washington and Lee University established the Shepherd Program for the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty and Human Capability, which integrates rigorous academic study and focused direct service to disadvantaged communities and persons, and supplements and enriches the education of undergraduate and law students in all majors and career paths. The intent of this program is to prepare students for lives aimed at diminishing poverty and enhancing human capability through professional and civic efforts.

A program of this kind has been absent from undergraduate education and largely absent from professional education, and it is one that should take its place alongside of other interdisciplinary programs. To this end, Washington and Lee is leading the effort to create a national movement to expand poverty and human capability studies at other colleges and universities through collaboration among member institutions. The Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty (SHECP) is comprised of:

• Baylor University
• Berea College
• John Carroll University
• Centre College
• College of Wooster
• Elon University
• Furman University
• Hendrix College
• Lynchburg College
• Marymount University
• Middlebury College
• Millsaps College
• Niagara University
• Spelman College
• University of Arkansas at Little Rock
• University of Notre Dame
• Virginia Military Institute
• Washington and Lee University

The Consortium's joint activities include the Shepherd Alliance, a collaborative eight-week summer internship program with student conferences; an annual symposium on teaching poverty in undergraduate and professional education; promising practices meetings for faculty and staff of Consortium schools; a website for networking and disseminating information; a sophisticated assessment administered by the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia in order to improve Consortium schools' policies and practices; and collaboration with the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service.