Concordia Journal Home > Archives > September 17, 2009 issue >

Campaign promotes the positive 

We Value allows groups and individuals to articulate what they care about

By Karen Herland

When a group of people from across Concordia got together to develop an internal campaign to promote the university, the discussion was far-reaching.

The result was “We Value…”

“The discussion was originally around ‘respect’,” said Dean of Students Beth Morey. “As we started talking about it, we realized that a ‘respect’ campaign implied we didn’t have any. The focus shifted to ‘celebration’, and then to ‘value’.”

The eight or nine people who met over the summer included Morey, representatives of student government, communications services, the Office of Rights and Responsibilities and the Ombuds Office. As they developed the idea they realized framing a campaign around value would allow everyone to identify what they do value about the university and the values they would like to promote.

The campaign is multipronged. As of Sept. 22, anyone can go to the website at wevalue.concordia.ca where they will find photos and short statements from people around the university articulating what they most value about Concordia.

There is also a theme established for each month. A series of posters will identify different values. The website will highlight monthly themes for which resources will be identified. There’s a volunteer fair in October so that is volunteerism month,” Morey said.

Meanwhile, professional development workshops will be made available to all staff and faculty each month aimed at learning more about diverse student populations helping them address their needs. Among those planned for the fall are sessions about communicating across cultures, student parents and students with disabilities. More sessions are already programmed for the winter term ending with a general discussion on “where do we go from here?” to take place in the Loyola Chapel in May.

Morey wants the campaign to be interactive. Any office or group can get copies of the month’s posters for their walls. Blank posters are available as well. Suggestions can be made for special posters.

“The Centre for Native Education has asked for ‘We value…our elders’.” Morey said.
Similarly, any group sponsoring an event they feel reflects the theme of the campaign can request the use of the logo as an endorsement. Information on making those requests, and on the various workshops and registration will all be available on the web site.

Morey added that her office has some funding available if student groups would like to organize events in keeping with We Value. And individuals can submit their own photos and ideas about what they value to the web site.