We Include And Excel, Together

Colette Patt>> When I think of the principle, "We Include and Excel, Together," I think of my colleague in Psychology, Rudy Mendoza-Denton. He generally is inclusive in the way that he looks at the world. Rudy Mendoza-Denton>> I grew up in a number of different countries when I was young. I was able to see that my own perspective, my own way of doing things, are not the only way of doing things. To be successful, it's absolutely necessary that people take each other into account, are respectful of each other, and trust each other. Colette Patt>> My experience working with Rudy is that no matter how stressful it gets, he's attentive to our people too. He acknowledges what everyone on the team does. He credits people with what they do and he thanks people for what they do. Rudy Mendoza-Denton>> When you come together within that context of respect, being able to innovate together, it can really create novel ideas and novel solutions to problems. Mary Pepple>> When I think of the principle, "We Include and Excel, Together," Ruben Mejia comes to my mind. Ruben is very good at building relationships with people. He collaborates among the various departments to improve the facilities. Ruben Mejia>> By being inclusive, there's always a lot of opportunity to excel and get things done. Mary Pepple>> We've had old signs in this building and Economics wanted to put new signs outside each of the offices. And rather than just working in a silo, Ruben, he rallied with the other managers in the building -- me, from the Mathematics Department and Statistics, and he grouped the project together. Ruben Mejia>> Right away, I thought of getting people that normally weren't going to talk, ensure that they had a common interest or a common goal so I take a tremendous amount of pride in satisfaction and providing this sort of service for connecting dots, everybody's winning, things are getting done that weren't normally getting done. It's just exciting to be a part of this. David Kim>> When I hear the principle, "We Include and Excel, Together," I think of the way Roia Ferrazares. I love that she always shares ideas and also share best practices in her department. Roia Ferrazares>> I think that it's important that departments are talking with other departments and it would seem like there's a great connection between theater and music. They're also putting on productions, so is music. So there are a lot of natural connections that can be made. In my time here on campus, I've participated in a number of different committees that have given me that broader perspective and all of those campus experiences have opened up doors for me. So to include and excel together to me, I can't do this alone. You can't do this alone. We're here doing things together day by day, doing the best we can for our students, our faculty, for the research that we undertake every day.