Campus Life has introduced a new program called Civitas, to promote more civil and friendly environment around the AU campus. "Civitas" is a Greek word that means civilized society. The first idea of Civitas was established and launched at Johns Hopkins University in 1997 by Dr. P.M. Forni, Professor of Italian literature and civility. Since then, other universities have adopted similar programs in order to foster a positive and courteous atmosphere around their campuses. In Forni's book "Choosing Civility," he writes, "To live a long, healthy and serene life, we need the help of network of care people - we need social support. In order to gain and to keep social support we need social skills."
One of the motives of campus life at AU is to establish and improve attitudes toward each other. Campus Life has posted Civitas signs around campus to inform students about its new campaign, but more needs to be done. If we really want to improve campus life, then there needs to be more activities that engage the community. Bernard Schulz, assistant vice president of Campus Life said, "It wasn't prompted by any event, but situations have arisen (and) we have obligation to one another to engage in proper discourse."
Sara Waldon, assistant dean of students said, "Civitas is a program designed to extend beyond basic etiquette and have to the entire AU community think about how we treat and speak with each other."
There are a number of things that can be done to make AU "Civitas." One example is the continuation of popular events on the Quad such as movies, giveaways or games, where students voluntarily participate and socialize with their fellow students, staff and even professors.
One of the best ways to get AU to have a better community is through a football or baseball team. If AU has football or baseball team, students will get a chance to show their school spirit by attending the games and proudly wearing their school and team gear.
While The Eagle applauds Campus Life for launching this program, in the end we feel that the best way to promote civility on this campus is to first put more work into forming a community.
