Rooted in Excellence
This fall, let’s build connections, listen with care and put our Principles of Community into practice.
As we begin a new academic year, I find myself thinking about what it means to be part of a public university at this particular moment.
UC Davis is a remarkable community, one that stretches from our campuses in Davis and Sacramento to communities and partners across California. We come to this work with different experiences, perspectives and responsibilities. What connects us is a shared commitment to creating a university where people can learn, work, contribute and thrive.
That commitment takes practice. It means not only aspiring to excellence, but thinking carefully about what excellence looks like in practice and making choices that reflect our values.
Living our values is how we pursue excellence
For more than 35 years, the Principles of Community have offered UC Davis a shared foundation for how we want to live and work together. They begin with a simple but powerful affirmation:
We affirm the dignity inherent in all of us.”
Inspired by the Principles of Community
Chancellor May always says, “This is who we are."
Who are we?
We believe in better
We affirm the dignity inherent in all of us
We learn from the past, improve the present, and solve for tomorrow
We heal, and we feed the world
We always outgrow the expected!
Who are we?
We are UC Davis!
Discover new ways to read and understand the Principles of Community
Displaying the Principles on a wall or website is always important. We must also integrate them into how we teach and learn, how we lead, how we make decisions, and how we treat one another. In this moment, we can and must lean into our values, particularly when doing so requires thought, courage or care.
Save the date for our November (Davis) and March (Sacramento) events. I hope you will join us as we come together to celebrate our Principles of Community and the many ways people across UC Davis are bringing them to life.
Join us for the Principles of Community Celebration
Chancellor May’s Welcome Message
Create the conditions for meaningful dialogue
Universities should be places where we encounter new ideas, ask difficult questions and learn from people whose experiences and perspectives differ from our own. Our Principles of Community call on us to foster the “open exchange of ideas” and to cultivate a community grounded in respect—even when we disagree.
But meaningful dialogue doesn't simply happen because we put people in a room together. We have to “create the conditions for trust.”
That idea inspired our Dynamic Discussions Conversation Deck, a set of prompts designed to spark reflection, storytelling and meaningful exchange. Over the past year, teams across the university have found value in using our prototype deck in meetings, retreats, classrooms and team-building exercises—sometimes beginning with something as simple as a question about a tradition, an unexpected act of kindness or a hope for the future.
We are now building on what we have learned to develop a new edition of the deck, with more news coming soon.
Purchase the Prototype Dynamic Discussions Conversation Deck
Create pathways to opportunity
Over the past four years, our K–16 Regional Education Collaboratives have brought together schools, community colleges, universities and employers across Northern California to make educational and career pathways easier for students to navigate. As these state-funded collaboratives come to a close, some of their most promising work—including Warm Handoffs that help students move successfully from one institution to the next—is being carried forward by our partners, even as we seek new funding to continue this important intersegmental work.
The impact becomes real in students like Jessica de Laguna, who grew up in foster care, returned to college in her 30s and is now pursuing her goal of becoming a physician serving rural and tribal communities. When a disappointing MCAT score shook her confidence, her Avenue M mentors helped her see beyond one number and keep moving toward that goal.
Her story reminds us what a pathway can be: not simply opening a door, but building the connections that help someone keep moving forward.
Review the K–16 Regional Education Collaboratives Digital Impact Report
Read about Jessica de Laguna’s Path to Medical School
Read about the PROMISE intergenerational mentoring model
Advance health equity through trust and partnership
Our values also shape how we serve our communities.
For nearly 15 years, the Spanish Mini Medical School at the Center for Reducing Health Disparities has brought Spanish-speaking community members together with UC Davis physicians, researchers and health experts to learn about their health and ask questions in a trusted and welcoming environment. Its approximately 120 seats regularly fill, with others waiting for the opportunity to attend.
The center could simply move the school to a larger room. But its longtime home at the MIND Institute is familiar, affordable to park at and accessible to older adults and people with mobility needs. Those details matter. They are a reminder that listening to a community sometimes means choosing what works best for the people we serve rather than what looks most efficient on paper.
That spirit has guided the Center for Reducing Health Disparities for more than 20 years: listening first, building trust and working alongside communities to improve health and well-being.
Read about the Spanish Mini-Medical School
Two Decades of Health Equity: How CRHD Became a National Model
How do you put our values into practice?
These are only a few examples of the work taking place across UC Davis. But each begins with the same question: How do we put our values into practice?
We do it by listening. By creating spaces where people can speak and be heard. By building connections that help people move forward. By recognizing that excellence is not separate from our values—it is strengthened by them.
As we begin this academic year, I invite you to think about what our Principles of Community mean in your own work. Bring a question to your next team meeting. Help someone navigate a transition. Listen closely enough to understand what a community actually needs. Find your own way to turn our shared values into action.
That is how we build the university we aspire to be.
I look forward to all that we will learn and accomplish together.
Renetta Garrison Tull, Ph.D. is Vice Chancellor for Inclusive Excellence and Adjunct Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering. Read more about her recent activities and scholarship in this recent article by Derek Hernandez.