IT IS WITH great excitement that Student Council, in collaboration with the University Programs Council and class councils, is announcing the launch of the first annual University Unity Project. The University Unity Project is rooted in an understanding that, together, our student body is capable of achieving goals that no single individual or organization could achieve on its own. As a collaborative effort, the Unity Project will never mandate or order anything of the student body. Rather, the project will call for a collective focus on an issue that concerns every student, and it will provide an opportunity for every student and student organization to address that issue in a manner by which they feel they are best suited to contribute.
The theme for the 2008-2009 University Unity Project is “Charlottesville: Beyond our Grounds, Within our Community.” It is a challenge to fuse our roles as students and citizens and to realize a sense of ownership and belonging in this community, as well. The University is invariably affected by the community in which it physically resides. No matter how global the University’s reach becomes, our local home will always have the biggest impact on our University. Likewise, the University exerts an enormous impact on the Charlottesville community as the single largest institution in the area. The interests of the University community and the Charlottesville community do not always coincide, but it is in the interests of both communities to ensure that a divergence of interests is met with cooperation. Both formal opportunities for joint decision-making and informal outreach and goodwill will facilitate a cooperative coexistence.
The greatest strength of the Unity Project is that it is based in a grassroots effort that will truly empower the student body to positively influence the community that exists beyond our Grounds. Through an unprecedented focused grant program, the Unity Project will fund student initiatives, programs, events and service opportunities that seek to reach out to the Charlottesville community. The Unity Project will further provide publicity and programming support to ensure the success of these efforts. Student Council is already well underway in focusing its efforts on our off-Grounds community. Among many other projects and events, a series of off-Grounds safety initiatives will be announced in the coming weeks.
Beginning today, all student organizations will also have the ability to register for the University Unity Network. In addition to facilitating the execution of the Unity Project, the Network will allow for rapid communication among many diverse student groups. Any group on Grounds can join the Network, and by doing so will benefit from its listserv and immense networking opportunities and publicity resources. While the Unity Project will change and evolve each year, the Unity Network will remain as an institutionalized mechanism for communication and collaboration.
We realize that the University Unity Project is a grand experiment. As best we can tell, no other University of our size and stature has attempted such an undertaking. Together, we will be the subjects of the very experiment we are seeking to conduct. In such a situation, the greatest tool with which we can equip ourselves is that of perspective. We must move forward with a perspective that allows us to see the greater purpose behind the designated project. We must honor our commitment to make the Unity Project a sustainable undertaking that can be pursued year in, and year out, as each new generation of students seeks to leave the University a better place than that which they discovered. We are truly looking forward to working with all of you to make the Unity Project a reality, and we look forward to the incredible accomplishments that will result from the collective focus of this incredible student body.
Matt Schrimper is Student Council president and Rob Atkinson is chair of the University Unity Project Committee.
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