Building Community
(from the president, continued...)

Another way to strengthen the sense of community is to accomplish a goal greater than our personal or organizational agendas. I invite all of you to join together to focus on what we can do for the victims of the horrific December tsunami. The tsunami victims and their governments cry out for our support. We could answer their cry with the Cuesta College Tsunami Response that collects donations from all of us.

We do not need to invent our own relief effort because the local Red Cross, UNICEF, or other established international aid organizations are experts at collecting and distributing resources. While it is tempting to gather clothes and blankets, I understand that cash donations are the most useful. We do not have to spend lots of time planning this effort, let’s just donate some of our money that we would otherwise spend on such luxuries as a coffee latté, lunch out or a movie. Remember, many of the people who died in the tsunami were college students and faculty. Think about the little children left orphaned. Think about San Luis Obispo without any people, these pricey homes in shambles, and filthy water and scavengers everywhere. We, too, would cry for relief.
Let’s hear their cry.

Ahead of us lie many opportunities to forget that as Cuesta employees we share a common vision, mission and set of values. It will be easy to mistrust information or blame one another when we disagree in negotiations, over spending priorities, or about college directions. Nevertheless, the year 2005 can be one of our very best if we value belonging to the Cuesta family and use our strongest skills to resolve differences amicably and make difficult decisions collaboratively.