Janina Montero Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs

To all of you new first-year and transfer students, as well as to all our returning graduate and undergraduate students – Welcome!  We are very happy to have you on campus, and hope that this will be a very productive and rewarding year.
 
Looking around this beautiful and peaceful campus, it is easy to forget that these are turbulent and uncertain times. We can begin to see how much the greater world affects our lives, and how we, in turn, can affect the world.   I believe it is possible for each and every one of us to make a difference, for transformation begins with each individual effort and vision.   As we consider what contributions we may bring to the world – what we may share with others – perhaps nothing is more important than the conscious cultivation of our own character.
 
With the beginning of a new academic year, now is an ideal time to remind ourselves of the True Bruin Spirit initiative put forth by the Dean of Students Office. This initiative plays a crucial role in our community and in our academic mission as the True Bruin Spirit underscores four essential ethical standards: Integrity, Excellence, Accountability, and Respect. 

These four standards encourage and inspire us to conduct ourselves with integrity, to strive for excellence in our work, to be accountable for our actions and conduct, and to respect the rights and dignity of others. Integrity and excellence are vital to this university, and they are inseparable; without one, the other cannot exist.    
 
Finally, respect for every member of our Bruin family is essential in our teaching and learning community. Respect means that we continue to listen attentively, communicate clearly, and remain open to understanding others and their diverse points of view.  Respect is the cornerstone of all relationships and the foundation for positive and productive interactions.  Let’s strive to keep Integrity, Excellence, Accountability, and Respect in mind as we start the new academic year and pursue our common work in and outside the classroom.  Character and the engagement that grows from such qualities open a myriad of opportunities for all of us truly to shape the world.   

Sincerely,

Janina Montero
Vice Chancellor Student Affairs