Mission Statement
Why Compassion?
Compassion - the desire/need to end suffering and promote happiness - is the driving force behind human connection and love. Us humans tend to extract true meaning out of our lives through our connections to others, be it through the relationships that we have with those that are close to us or the good that we do when we feel connected to those we do not even know. Across cultures and various religions, this supreme value that humans hold for love and connection is widespread and universal.
Nevertheless, our larger culture tends to not directly promote compassion in constant and institutional ways. There is as of yet no non-exclusionary institution that is able to prime and promote compassionate living in main-stream culture. While we value giving meaning to our lives and human connection, our current social institutions either prime us to focus on fostering other qualities (intelligence, knowledge, or technical skills) or are exclusionary and do not or cannot affect certain portions of the human race. This leaves behind a vastly untapped resource that can be used to increase collective human happiness and contentment for everyone.
We believe that compassion is a skill that can be practiced, and that in practicing people can improve themselves to lead lives that are more meaningful, rewarding, and loving. From our efforts in fostering compassion in ourselves and on campus as a whole, we hope to build greater community that could have meaningful affects on lives for years to come.
Nevertheless, our larger culture tends to not directly promote compassion in constant and institutional ways. There is as of yet no non-exclusionary institution that is able to prime and promote compassionate living in main-stream culture. While we value giving meaning to our lives and human connection, our current social institutions either prime us to focus on fostering other qualities (intelligence, knowledge, or technical skills) or are exclusionary and do not or cannot affect certain portions of the human race. This leaves behind a vastly untapped resource that can be used to increase collective human happiness and contentment for everyone.
We believe that compassion is a skill that can be practiced, and that in practicing people can improve themselves to lead lives that are more meaningful, rewarding, and loving. From our efforts in fostering compassion in ourselves and on campus as a whole, we hope to build greater community that could have meaningful affects on lives for years to come.
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