Join your student affairs peers in the Where Respect Happens campaign

NIRSA is a proud member of the Student Affairs in Higher Education Consortium (SAHEC), which promotes the understanding of learning and development as intertwined, inseparable elements of the college student experience. While we know not all campus recreation departments report though student affairs (SA), SAHEC members represent campus peers who are also engaged in the critical work of student development and cocurricular learning.

Where Respect Happens seeks to communicate that student affairs is committed to student learning and development and recognizes that self-respect and respect for others are at the core of that process. Designed for professionals and students alike, Where Respect Happens hopes to remind us all of the importance of respect in civil society and on all of our campuses.

The core messages are simple:

SAHEC Associations are committed to creating a world Where Respect Happens, one person at a time.
We are student affairs professionals creating spaces for student learning and development Where Respect Happens.
I am a SA PRO. Where Respect Happens.

We hope to invite our students and colleagues into this commitment with one another leading to:

I am a student Where Respect Happens.
I am a faculty member Where Respect Happens.
I am a _____________ Where Respect Happens.

The campaign is also an opportunity for SAHEC member associations to collaborate in a message of support to students and professionals. It is an opportunity to amplify the voice of student affairs professionals within higher education, to provide thoughtful leadership in a time of deep uncertainty, and to support students as they navigate very challenging situations on campus as well as their own inner turmoil about the future.

Other SAHEC member associations involved in the campaign are:

How to engage

Where Respect Happens is meant to be a grassroots campaign; this means that you and your department should approach it in a way that works best for you. Maybe you use this as an opportunity to connect across your campus with student affairs professionals. Maybe this campaign spurs new ideas and considerations when planning back to school trainings and events. Maybe you encourage your students to spread this message of positivity and understanding across social media. Whatever you choose to do, we’d love to see it and share it with the NIRSA family!

Take the message to social media

Share how you’re spreading the Where Respect Happens message! Take a cue from the bullet points above and show us how you and your staff are putting those ideas into action. Are you using this campaign to collaborate with SA peers? Snap a picture and post it. Are your students engaging with this campaign in training? Take a quick video and share it. However you choose to activate this campaign, we’d love to see it.

Post to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and tag @NIRSAlive. We’ll share it as well and spread the word that, despite all the negative tenor in media and sometimes on our campuses, our profession, our facilities, and our programming are all Where Respect Happens.

Post your support sticker

Let others on campus know what you and your department are all about. Download the sticker file, print (preferably in color), and place stickers on all office windows/doors/desk (as permitted by your campus) or to your car or bike, backpack, briefcase…whatever you can in order to communicate to students that you maintain space Where Respect Happens. This document is set up to print on 8.5×11 paper, Avery 8164 Sticker Labels.

Get and wear your Where Respect Happens tee

Download this image file to send to your favorite t-shirt printer and/or order iron-on transfers with the Where Respect Happens imagery. You may also use this image for the front pocket area. Wear it often!

Why should this campaign matter on campus?

Research clearly indicates that students and professionals who feel respected are more engaged. They are more likely to share their ideas, contribute their thoughts, and work collaboratively. Students who feel respected are more likely to persist, graduate, and obtain gainful employment.

The recent Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) statement encourages campus leaders to engage in new ways regarding civility, inclusion, and diversity.

Where Respect Happens offers the opportunity to increase understanding about the role of student affairs professionals in creating opportunities for engagement in those activities when students: