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UC Board of Trustees Passes Resolution Reaffirming Core Values of the Institution

headshot of M.B. Reilly By M.B. Reilly (513) 556-1824
4 minute read October 23, 2017

During today’s Oct. 24 Board of Trustees meeting, the board unanimously approved a resolution to stand with University of Cincinnati President Neville Pinto in reaffirming the core values of the institution.

In the resolution, the board fully embraced the diversity that makes our campus community extraordinary, while also condemning hate and denouncing prejudice and racism. According to the resolution, “May the words etched in our seal, ‘Strength in Unity’ (Junta Juvant), ring truer, louder and prouder than ever before.”

The board reaffirmed UC’s

Just Community Principles

that have long guided our campus community as we mutually fulfill our roles – as students, faculty, staff and alumni – within our learning environment.

Board members also recognized the need to uphold the First Amendment and the fundamental role of free speech at a public university. In part, the resolution stated, “After all, for higher education to maintain its pride of place as

the

marketplace of ideas, we have a responsibility as teachers, scholars, learners and trustees to drive out bad ideas with better ones.”

Full Text: Board of Trustees’ “Resolution: Reaffirming Our Core Values”
We, the Board of Trustees, stand with President Pinto in reaffirming the core values of the University of Cincinnati.

We, the Board of Trustees, condemn hate. Hate has no place on our campus or in our world.  As President Pinto asserted in his August 2017 message to our community: “Hate leaves no room for moral ambivalence. At best, it poisons the human spirit. At worst, it courts death and destruction. We have a responsibility to speak up and out against any behavior that seeks to devalue our humanity and divide our democracy.”

We, the Board of Trustees, denounce prejudice and racism and fully embrace the diversity that makes our university so great. As President Pinto emphasized in his October 2017 message to our community: “That competitive edge is our diversity—of backgrounds and beliefs, of identities and ideas, of perspectives and pathways. And no doubt it is the power and promise of that diversity to change the world for the better that has the hate-filled so unsettled….Your difference is our strength, our pride, our purpose.”

We, the Board of Trustees, believe in upholding the First Amendment and recognizing the fundamental role of free speech at a public university. After all, for higher education to maintain its pride of place as the marketplace of ideas, we have a responsibility as teachers, scholars, learners and trustees to drive out bad ideas with better ones.

We, the Board of Trustees, call on every member of our campus community to “recognize the humanity around us.” Our Bearcat family is only as strong as our ability to be there—in solidarity and support—with each other and for each other. May the words etched in our seal, “Strength in Unity” (Junta Juvant), ring truer, louder and prouder than ever before.

We, the Board of Trustees, reaffirm the University’s Just Community Principles. These principles call on every member of our campus community to: accept responsibility; celebrate the uniqueness of each individual; embrace freedom and openness; practice civility; promote justice; pursue learning and scholarship; seek integrity; and strive for excellence.

We, the Board of Trustees, stand with President Pinto in standing with you—our students, faculty, staff and alumni. And let his words “about the power of inclusion, the promise of learning and the proliferation of hope” light our path forward to a brighter day.

THEREFORE, BE IT

RESOLVED, that the Board of Trustees approve and proclaim this message of support for the University’s core values on the 24th day of October of 2017.

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