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Statement of Community Values

The Santa Clara University community is dedicated to the promotion of values consistent with academic and personal excellence. Choosing to join this community evidences your acceptance of these values.

As a member of this community, I will practice personal and academic integrity.

Living this value looks like:

  • Being a “person of conscience,” who acts ethically, and whose decisions reflect moral sensitivity, judgment, commitment, and courage
  • Showing consistency in my beliefs, my words, and my actions personally and professionally
  • Being honest, responsible, and accountable in my scholarly activities, making course work my top priority, and taking credit only for my own work
  • Accepting responsibility for my own actions and holding others accountable for their actions

Living this value is inconsistent with:

  • Failing to take responsibility for my behavior
  • Engaging in dishonest behavior such as cheating or falsifying information
  • Tampering with data systems or computer networks

As a member of this community, I will respect and care for myself, others, and their property.

Living this value looks like:

  • Maintaining my health in mind, body, spirit, and soul
  • Treating other people and the environment with dignity,  as I expect to be treated
  • Being a “person of compassion,” who stands with others in their need and takes action to help build a more just and humane world
  • Recognizing and actively protecting the property rights of others in my apartment, neighborhood, residence hall, on campus, and in the surrounding community

Living this value is inconsistent with:

  • Behaving in ways that cause others emotional distress, threaten or discourage the freedom, personal safety, and respect that all individuals deserve
  • Hurting myself and others through the use or distribution  of drugs or alcohol
  • Creating a dangerous environment by tampering with safety equipment or smoke detectors

As a member of this community, I will value diversity and learn from diverse people, ideas, and situations.

Living this value looks like:

  • Understanding that differences in gender, socioeconomic status, ethnic background, race, culture, religion, sexuality, physical abilities, and other differences are rich opportunities for learning about other people, the world, and myself
  • Working to understand and overcome personal, institutional, and societal biases, injustices, prejudices, and stereotyping
  • Being fair, assigning benefits and burdens to people according to consistent, equitable, and just criteria

Living this value is inconsistent with:

  • Harassing or threatening other members of the community
  • Using degrading language toward any person or members of  a specific group
  • Arguing or hampering my community’s right to the communication of ideas and ideals just because they don’t represent my own
  • Validating unequal behavior toward a person because  of gender, socioeconomic status, ethnic background, race, culture, religion, sexuality, physical abilities, and/or other differences

As a member of this community, I will seek, share, and contribute to the common good.

Living this value looks like:

  • Basing my actions on the belief that my own good is inextricably bound to the good of the whole community
  • Contributing my talents and participating fully in the life and events of the community
  • Engaging in the open dialogue and deep communication necessary to create a real rather than a “pretend” community
  • Showing careful stewardship of common space, property, and equipment

Living this value is inconsistent with:

  • Not conveying respect and responsibility for my  University community • Resisting learning about the perspectives shared by other community members
  • Engaging in selfish or inconsiderate behavior

As a member of this community, I will be a leader-in-service to the campus and greater community beyond campus.

Living this value looks like:

  • Seeking to understand not only “what is” but “what should be” and working actively to bring that about
  • Making no decision without considering its effects on people who are poor, in need, and with the fewest resources
  • Consistently role-modeling behavior reflective of the three Cs (Competence, Conscience, and Compassion)

Living this value is inconsistent with:

  • Not valuing the efforts of community service activities
  • Perceiving leadership as someone else’s responsibility to the campus and outside community