The Power & Joy of Community

This I Believe

I believe in the power of community. Living and working in community—specifically a university community—for the majority of my life, I have seen how community can heal, celebrate, educate, and transform.

I believe in the power of community to heal, comfort, and help. In the last 16 years, I have experienced the power of community to heal tragedy. The most tragic—a student death by accident or suicide or unexplainable reasons—requires communities to rally together to heal one another. I believe in the power of community to hold hands, listen, and be present during times of tragedy.

I believe in the power of community to celebrate joys and triumphs. One of my favorite days of the year is commencement where I stand at the back of Brookings Quadrangle to watch all of the undergraduates march by. The entire residential life staff cheers and celebrates this significant milestone for the students we have observed and interacted with over the last four years. I believe in the power of community to laugh, celebrate successes, and experience joy with one another.

I believe in the power of community to educate about the differences and commonalities of ideas, cultures, and people. Both the formal academic community and the out of the classroom community have the power to teach faculty, staff, and students about self-awareness, human respect and dignity, interpersonal relationships, personal wellness, and global citizenship. I believe in the power of community to reflect, dialogue, grapple, serve, lead, follow, and seek understanding from one another.

I believe in the power of community to transform. Communities are about people living, learning, and growing together. Young people “come of age” during college, and the university community has the power to transform lives and ideas. Ultimately, those transformed and those transformations have the power to heal and change the world for the better. I believe in the power of community to not only transform the world, but to also continuously transform me.