Be the difference. Respect.
That is the important message that Conestoga College’s newly-launched Respect campaign hopes everyone will remember this year.
Developed as an initiative to reinforce the positive behaviours already experienced on the campus, the Respect campaign encourages all members of the College community to consider respect and civility in all of their interactions. As part of its mission, the campaign has even crafted a direct definition for what respect means on campus with the assistance of a cross-college campaign committee consisting of students, Conestoga Students Inc. (CSI) and numerous college employees.
At Conestoga, respect is the understanding that everyone shares a common community and a behaviour of civility that is valued by everybody on campus. All members on campus have the ability to agree and disagree civilly while considering the needs and rights of all people in the college community. The campaign’s message makes it clear that Conestoga is a community that does not excuse disrespect. It advocates that everyone has an opportunity to act as a leader by role modeling the campaign’s message in order to help make the Conestoga community a respectful environment for everyone.
The new Respect website at www.conestogac.on.ca/respect provides a myriad of resources and helpful tips on how to encourage everyone to promote Respect on campus, information on various student policies involving respect and where they can go to report student concerns. Promotional resources are also included on the website, including links to the campaign’s posters that will be unveiled on campus this September. The Campaign’s logo and posters have been developed by Courtney Winhold, a second-year Conestoga graphic design student. With five posters launched in September, more posters will continue to be unveiled throughout the duration of the school year.
On the Respect website, students are also given the tools first-hand on how they can become ambassadors of the Respect campaign’s message, such as wearing the campaign swag when they receive it to raise public awareness of the importance of Respect on their campus.
The campaign also encourages students to show leadership by encouraging classroom discussions about respect and identifies ways that the campaign’s message can be ingrained within the classroom. For students, this can include the ways a person encourages participation in group work to ensure that everybody feels a sense of inclusiveness in the task at hand.
Throughout the first year of the campaign, Conestoga students can expect to see a lot of awareness initiatives about what Respect means on their campus. In the future, education will also be provided about the impact of disrespectful behaviours and approaches students can take to lead the message of Respect onwards past the time they graduate from their program. A video has been developed, with the assistance of a Broadcast – Television graduate, to educate students on the diversity of perspectives and opinions that exist on the Conestoga campus and what respect means to them personally and inside the classroom. The video is available for showing to students by contacting Ryan Connell, Student Life Programmer, at respect@conestogac.on.ca or at (519) 748-5220 ext. 2373.
Contact: Ryan Connell, 519-748-5220 ext. 2373
