A woman in a yellow jacket in front of a screen with blue and yellow watercolors.

Our Principles

The UC Davis Way

  • by Renetta G. Tull, Ph.D.

Quick Summary

  • We all deserve dignity and respect
  • How to reference the Principles of Community statement
  • The Principles of Community as The UC Davis Way

This year, we are celebrating 35 years of the Principles of Community. As I regularly read the Principles, I am always positively impacted by the strength of the words used by those who wrote them years ago. 

Dignity. Connect. Respect.

One of the sections of a sentence near the beginning particularly sticks out: “We affirm the dignity inherent in all of us …”  I love that segment because it provides a reminder that all of us deserve dignity. There is, what I call, a deservingness factor attached to it. In deservingness, we recognize that we are all human beings. As members of the campus community, we should recognize and appreciate the humanity that is shared between all of us, with all of our differences and all of our perspectives. The members of our campus community are kind, principled and brilliant. We all deserve dignity. We all deserve respect. And, we all deserve that have opportunities for connections. All of these sentiments are within the Principles. Dignity. Connect. Respect. 

A Key to Reading, Remembering, and Living the Principles

As I read this part of the Principles, I noted that I wanted to have a way to refer to it. To make it easier for my own reading and embodiment, I decided to number the sentences, and put the Principles into stanza form. Perhaps this is a throwback from religious trainings in earlier years where sacred texts have chapters and verses that were easy to put to memory. Using this method, “We affirm the dignity inherent in all of us …” could be known as UC Davis Principle P2:1a. 

My version of the Principles is shown here, and I share it with you, our university family. I invite you to refer to it regularly. Feel free to refer to the sections, sentences and stanzas. 

Paragraph 1

P1:1 The University of California, Davis, is first and foremost an institution of learning, teaching, research and public service.
P1:2 UC Davis reflects and is committed to serving the needs of a global society comprising all people and a multiplicity of identities.
P1:3 We recognize that diversity enriches the university community and enhances our effectiveness in serving the educational mission of the university.
P1:4 We further recognize that our success in that mission depends on our ability to maintain a climate of justice, courtesy, respect and cooperation.

Paragraph 2

P2:1 We affirm the dignity inherent in all of us, and we strive to maintain a climate of equity and justice demonstrated by respect for one another.
P2:2 We recognize that our society carries historical and deep-rooted biases and privileges that must be continuously addressed and challenged.
P2:3 We accept responsibility for building and maintaining a climate of mutual respect and caring for all.

Paragraph 3

P3:1 We affirm the right of freedom of expression within our community.
P3:2 We promote open expression of our individuality and our diversity within the bounds of courtesy, sensitivity and respect.

Paragraph 4

P4:1 We affirm our commitment to the highest standards of civility and decency toward all.
P4:2 We recognize the right of each person to learn and work in an atmosphere free of harassment, discrimination, exploitation or intimidation.

Paragraph 5

P5:1 We affirm the value of honesty, integrity and responsible citizenship that are the hallmarks of a university community.
P5:2 We will strive to uphold these values in all that we do.

Paragraph 6

P6:1 We recognize that each member of the UC Davis community shares the responsibility for upholding the Principles of Community.
P6:2 We believe that these principles will help us to sustain and extend UC Davis’s mission of teaching, research and public service to an increasingly diverse and interconnected world.

Download the Key as a PDF

The UC Davis Way

Chancellor May often mentions the accolades coming out of UC Davis, saying, “This is who we are.” Similarly, our Principles of Community planning team* within Inclusive Excellence calls the Principles, “The UC Davis Way.” I invite you to consider the words and the message within the Principles. Let’s read and learn them so that they become embedded in who we are, and so that we see them as The UC Davis Way.

P6:2 is the last sentence in the Principles, and it says, “We believe that these principles will help us to sustain and extend UC Davis’s mission of teaching, research, and public service to an increasingly diverse and interconnected world.” I love working at UC Davis and I believe in our principles. Let’s follow P2:1a — affirm the dignity inherent in all of us — and let’s make the Principles The UC Davis Way.

Our campus is having a reaffirmation ceremony and celebration on Friday, November 14, 2025 at 12:30 PM in the ARC. I invite you to come and be part of the celebration.

*Special thanks to Ceasor Dennis, Megan Macklin and Christopher Nguyen-Pheneger, for the idea of the Principles of Community as The UC Davis Way