Open Letter on Community from the Campus Climate Coordinator
“I have come to a frightening conclusion. I am the decisive element in the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or de-humanized.” –Haim Ginott
Years ago, when I was a young educator, Ginott’s words resonated within me and challenged me to be aware of the impact my attitudes, behaviors and reactions have on the children gifted to me each day in my classroom. I now view our entire campus community as a classroom and ask that every member of our campus community gather a deliberate awareness of the environment around us and the role we play in our environment.
We, as a campus community, must strive to create an environment that welcomes and respects ALL people of diverse perspectives, races, ethnic backgrounds, ages, genders, religions, sexual orientations, abilities, economic status, family situations, national origins and other individual differences. We know that a community of respect is critical to a rich and vital learning environment.
We, as a campus community, must recognize and admit that not all members of our community always feel welcome or accepted. Furthermore, in recognizing this, we must reflect on our own attitudes and assumptions. How can we as individuals further develop our intercultural sensitivity in order to collectively build a campus community based on mutual respect? How can we as individuals honor the needs of ALL community members and develop a welcoming and supportive climate in which people are encouraged to hold, share, and express differing ideas?
As we, individually and collectively, search for answers to these and other questions, I invite you to join me in my commitment to work towards building a respectful and just community...a welcoming and safe environment where all people may pursue scholarly ambitions, personal growth, and active citizenry.
I believe that as a collective force of unique individuals, we are able to find our strength as we work towards meeting the mission and vision statements of the Campus Climate Council (CCC) and Diversity Organization Coalition (DOC).
In Community,
Beth A. Hartung, M.S.E.
Campus Climate Coordinator