Inclusion at the forefront of Values Celebration Week

There will be four more events for Values Celebration Week, leading to a service day event on Friday. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE

The Center for Student Involvement (CSI) is hosting its annual Values Celebration Week to create conversations and reflect on values within the USF community. 

Coordinator of Fraternity and Sorority Life Eddie Labid said this is a weeklong event focused on highlighting the values that shape students’ actions.

With locations of the events all around the USF campus, the celebration week will take place March 2- 6.

The event kicked off Monday with a coffee talk that focused on impactful discussions about values and their role in everyday life. 

“We did different activities and group discussions so students could value hearing other students’ perspectives,” said Samantha Sock, a graduate student in CSI. “We put the title ‘Common Grounds’  so they could see their common grounds despite maybe having different values, and see that we could come together at a table for coffee.”

Keynote speaker and racial equity scholar Shaun Harper from the University of Southern California presented “Fostering and Sustaining an Inclusive Campus Climate at USF” on Monday. Harper addressed key methods in creating an inclusive campus.

There are four more events throughout the week, leading to a service day Friday.

The four upcoming events are “Wall of Values at Patio Tuesday,” “Bull Market Your Values #ValuesChallengeDay,” ”Values Block Party” and “Service Day – Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful.” 

“Service Day – Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful” is a new addition to the Values Celebration Week.

“We’ve moved programs around a little bit,” said Sock. “We really want to show that we value the USF community through all that and have every student, no matter who they are, reflecting on what USF stands for.”

Labid said each event provides the opportunity to engage in conversation about values and really find out what students prioritize as meaningful values in their lives.

“Sometimes we know things to be true, but not necessarily remember or see them as values,” said Labid. “So this gives students the opportunity to reflect on what they care about, what they are passionate about and really leads to some values clarification, especially when it comes to their thoughts and feelings of who they are at the core.”

Labid said the week aligns with USF President Steven Currall’s goals for the recently created “Principles of Community” task force, which is made up of university stakeholders. The principles aim to reinforce a campus climate of mutual support among faculty, staff and students. 

“Overall we want them to reflect on what their values are, and just meet someone new,” said Sock. “Really building that connection and seeking to build the USF community together but within that seriously reflecting on what their values are.”