Clemson's September Citizen-of-the-Month

Our office received many nominations and heard a lot of great stories of Clemson students demonstrating the Clemson core values. While we wish we could honor all of our nominees, there was one nomination that stood out from the rest. Thank you to all of our nominees for their service to Clemson.

However, I hope the entire Clemson community will join me in congratulating Tyler Graham, freshman student at Clemson University, as our Citizen-of-the-Month. Here is the nomination letter: 

"Just wanted to submit the name of Tyler Graham, a student at Clemson for his good deed done today. Tyler called our home phone looking for a 'Michael Speer' which happens to be both my husband and son's name. Tyler had found our son's ATM card and was hoping to return it to him. My son promptly received a call from Tyler and was able to retrieve his debit card within about 10 minutes of my call from Tyler. So nice to know the Clemson community is made up of fine, honest students like Tyler."

Submitted by Barb Speer, a Clemson parent.

This is just another example that Clemson students strive to live the Clemson core values and consistently make the right choices. Tyler thank you for your service to the Clemson community. Special thanks from the Office of Community and Ethical Standards, the Community Educators, and the Division of Student Affairs. When you see Tyler, roaming on campus please be sure to congratulate him.

-j-

Letter to Clemson University

Dear Clemson University,

In the Office of Community and Ethical Standards we strive to have positive interactions with each student we come in contact with. Even though students are referred to our office because their name was documented as part of an incident, we still take pride in the fact that we are educators first and we are here to support the students in their learning environment. We believe our efforts are working, as 85% of respondents to our satisfaction survey last year stated that the disciplinary process helped them to understand the standards and expectations of Clemson University. In our role as educators, we have begun a process to work with students to proactively educate the entire student body on the community standards, expectations, and Core Values to reduce the number of students referred to our office as part of an incident that occurred on or off-campus. In doing so, we have started two new initiatives that we wanted you to know about.

Citizen-of-the-Month

This program is an opportunity for our office to honor those students that are serving as a positive role model for others here at Clemson. Embodying the Clemson Core Values, these individuals set an example of integrity, honesty, and respect in everything that they do. Anyone from the Clemson community can nominate a student. All nominations are due by the 15th of each month (September-April) and can be sent to jcarte2@clemson.edu. The nomination should include the student’s name, email, and a brief statement as to why he or she should be the Citizen-of-the-Month. The winner and the names of all nominees for the month will be announced by the final Friday of each month on our Core Values website (Cucorevalues.blogspot.com), the OCES Website, and through Facebook. The winner will also receive a small token of our appreciation. So if you have an amazing friend, an awesome roommate, a caring mentor/mentee, a model resident, or an outstanding organization leader, please consider nominating them for this award.

Students Responsible for the Clemson Community

This group is sponsored by the Community Educators here at Clemson University. If you are unfamiliar with the Community Educators you can learn more on our website (http://www.clemson.edu/studentaffairs/oces/communityed/commeds.php). Students Responsible for the Clemson Community is a Facebook version of an initiative to find at least 1000 students this year to sign the pledge of the community educators stating that they are committed to supporting the core values of our institution and will question unfair, unjust, or uncivil behaviors of all members of the Clemson community. If you are interested in joining this movement, please search for us by title in Facebook. Currently, we have 29 members and are quickly growing. Soon you will also see us at tables set up in different areas of campus and can join that way as well.

In addition to the other programs and services we have put in place to better serve the student body, we hope these two initiatives will demonstrate our desire to be an entity that works with students on a variety of levels to continue to promote a safe and nurturing educational environment that encourages students to uphold Clemson University’s core values and standards. If you have any questions about these initiatives or want to know more about what OCES is doing to support our students, feel free to contact me. Thank you and have a week.

-JC-