New Initiative Aims to Strengthen ‘社区+价值观’ at DU

纵观历史, people have yearned to be part of something bigger — part of a community that inspires connections even as it encourages the pursuit of individual goals.   

With this concept in mind, the University of Denver launched a 社区+价值倡议 在4月26日的头脑风暴午餐会上. 在介绍这一倡议时, 校长丽贝卡·肖普(Rebecca Chopp)召集了全体教员, 工作人员, students 和 alumni to lend their voices 和 energy to composing a collective narrative 和 creating a greater sense of shared values 和 belonging.

The initiative grows out of the University’s strategic plan, Du冲击2025, specifically its Transformative Direction 4: OneDU, which reflects a recurring theme — a profound longing for a sense of intentional community — that emerged during the plan-development process. 在头脑风暴午餐会上, Chopp noted that the 21st century requires a new 和 different model of community — one that departs from what she called a “birds-of-a-feather-flock-together” paradigm.

“Most people at DU have communities — with a small c — that they belong to,” she told an audience of roughly 520 people gathered at Magness Arena for the kickoff. “But what people are hungry for is community with a big C.” “Big C” manifests in a greater sense of belonging to the University 和 to what it st和s for collectively.

Getting to a big C community will require collaborative, sometimes messy work. Chopp说:“这不是一个kumbaya的时刻. “这将是艰难和具有挑战性的. 这不是一种自上而下的提升士气的方法.”

乔普的言论得到了莉莉·罗德里格斯的回应, vice chancellor for ca88登录正确网址 和 Inclusive Excellence.

“我们都需要属于一个社区. 这是所有人的基本需求,罗德里格斯说, delivering her remarks first in Spanish 和 then in English.

The initiative’s debut came on the heels of Chopp’s April 19 announcement that she will step down from her post effective July 14, when Provost Jeremy Haefner will assume the role of interim chancellor. 展望未来, 海夫纳和安·艾尔斯, 科罗拉多女子学院院长, 会指导接下来的步骤吗. Chopp will continue to serve as an advisor to the project.

在接下来的几个月和明年, look for programming that features everything from guest speakers, performances 和 debates to a story-telling opportunity that will allow individual community members to share their experiences. All of the events will invite reflection on a number of urgent questions, including:

•DU的社区是什么样的?

• As individuals, what is our role in building that community?

•我们看重什么? Are our passions, work 和 interests guided by our shared values?

• What different 和 complex stories do we have to tell?

•我们都需要同样的社区吗?

• Can we have different communities within the whole?

Attendees at the kickoff event got a taste of the conversations to come, working at individual tables to identify moments that foster a sense of belonging 和 actions that help people create the community they desire. The conversations inspired a word cloud that took shape in real time on the Jumbotron hovering over the arena. Among the themes captured in the moment were collaboration, empathy, trust 和 transparency.

现在这个倡议正在进行中, Chopp urged members of the DU community — faculty, 工作人员, students 和 alumni — to invest their time 和 energy in the rest of the process, 在合作中, 分享未来的故事和艰苦的工作.

“2020年社区公共场所开放时,肖普说。, “we hope to have established community with a big C.”

Editor’s note: If you weren’t able to attend the lunch, please visit the 社区+价值观网页 to watch a video 和 nominate yourself or someone you know to serve on a working group.