However, as we make judgments about how to respond to incongruent behaviors we will use our ability to educate as the gauge by which we will measure the appropriate response. As an educational institution, teaching is the most powerful tool we have at our disposal. Though we can punish, I would hope that being punitive is not what we do best. When we feel we can not respond with an appropriate educational response, that ensures the safety of other community members, separation of the individual from the community is the most logical response. Courage and heart means acting with care, while also acting with commitment to our values.
True communities commit to making hard choices.
When we are in community with each other we will acknowledge our interdependence and shared destiny. The quality of our lives at OSU and in Corvallis rests in each other's hands. In our relationships we can cause others to feel invisible, marginal, inaudible, nameless and faceless. Or we can create the context in which others will feel sustained, nourished, stimulated, engaged and appreciated. Interdependence means we will look for the value in what others bring, rather than dwelling on what they are lacking.