Can you list the five Gustavus core values from memory? Pause here. Take a minute to see if you can write them down.
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Excellence. Community. Justice. Service. Faith.
These core values are rooted in our distinctive heritage. They help focus our work and shape the strategies we pursue. Along with our mission and vision, the core values both ground us in the richness of the past and guide us to the successes of the future.
It’s easy to look back. It’s exciting to plan ahead. Between the past and the future lies today. Sometimes it’s hard to remember in our daily work, with classes and meetings and tasks that need to be completed, that our core values are at the heart of what we do.
“Values in Action,” our theme for the year, encourages all of us to step back and reflect on all the ways in which our day-to-day work is in alignment with these core values. Did you encourage excellence in your students by challenging them in class or the laboratory? Are you building community by connecting with coworkers or getting to know a new student? Perhaps you are promoting justice by wearing a preferred pronoun sticker on your name tag or leading through service, picking up a stray piece of litter or volunteering to help a student organization. Do you support students as they grow in their faith and ask themselves deep questions about what they believe?
To help us think about how we put our Values in Action every day, each employee will be receiving a new Gustavus wristband in the coming days. I encourage you to wear it as you go about your work as a reminder that you are a part of something great, an ever-growing tradition of Excellence, Community, Justice, Service, and Faith.
Our core values live in the work we do. Let us make each day count.
Until next week, keep up the good work, Gusties!
With respect,
Becky