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, both in our academic mission and in the University’s mission within the broader community.  The True Bruin Spirit underscores five essential values by which we as Bruins strive to define our attitudes and conduct: Integrity, Excellence, Accountability, Respect, and Service. 

These five values encourage and inspire us to conduct ourselves with integrity, to strive for excellence in our work, to be accountable for our actions and conduct, to respect the rights and dignity of others, and to commit ourselves to making a difference in the world around us. Integrity and excellence are vital to this university, and they are inseparable; without one, the other cannot exist. Accountability is the public acknowledgement of our responsibility to ourselves and to the community.
 
The last two values, Respect and Service, form the bridge between our conduct as individuals and our commitment to the campus community and beyond.  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. Finally, Service is the embodiment of our respect for those around us and our recognition of the critical need for each of us to commit ourselves to contribute to the betterment of our global community.

Let’s strive to keep Integrity, Excellence, Accountability, Respect, and Service 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