Development of a Civility Commitment
Our Process and Invitation to You
The Fund for Civility, Respect and Understanding board members set a clear goal of making a commitment of their own to model behavior in the community. A civility pledge subcommittee was formed and began discussions. As civility is a personal responsibility and has different meanings to different people, the subcommittee created a process that they recommend to any organization that is interested in discussing what civility means and or in creating their own commitment or pledge:
- A group facilitator or leader encourages individuals to define, in their own words, what civility means to them.
- Encourage individuals to write, in their own words, a pledge they are willing to take as an individual and promote to a greater audience.
- Consolidate that information and consider developing a statement reflective of the individual definitions of civility and pledges in the group.
Using Survey Monkey, the subcommittee then asked the group members to choose what three words best described what civility meant to them. The following words were used as answers: understanding, respect, consideration, kindness, honesty, integrity, empathy, open-minded, appreciation, dignity, nonjudgmental, openness, forthcoming, collaboration, courtesy, tolerance, compassion, common humanity, conversation, cooperation, listening and patience.
The board then tallied the most used words, and using them, and formed and committed themselves to the following statement:
I commit to bring civility into my daily life in all interactions by treating everyone with respect, consideration and kindness regardless of differing beliefs opinions or actions.
The advisory board of the Fund for Civility, Respect and Understanding invites you to join in our group pledge and also make one of your own.
The pledge subcommittee is chaired by Gary Jones of Earthworks Arizona.
