Civitas Week was created by its organizers to inspire random acts of kindness and general civility on campus, but some students are confused about the campaign.
Out of 25 students asked about Civitas on the quad last week, 21 had little or no idea what the program is.
"I've never even heard of Civitas, why is my money being spent on this?" said Jonathan McGuire, a junior in the Kogod School of Business. "Is Civitas even a real word?"
Some students familiar with the campaign said it's a positive program.
"I know some people don't like Civitas," said Christopher Pees, a senior in the School of International Service, "but face it, it's a program designed to make people happy. I mean, that sounds good to me."
The Office of Campus Life launched Civitas in 2003 because "we really believe in this idea of promoting civility," according to Katsura Kurita Beltz, Civitas chair and director of Judicial Affairs and Mediation Services.
According to the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary, "civitas" is a Latin word meaning "a body of people constituting a politically organized community."
Some on campus have a simpler explanation.
"Our slogan that we told the freshman was 'Civitas' means don't be a dick,'" said Sarah Bishop, a junior and former Orientation Coordinator last summer.
Civitas week, which began yesterday, includes events from movie screenings to a blood drive, a volleyball tournament, an international festival and an essay contest. Though the program has been around three years, this is only the second Civitas Week.
The year-round program and the week itself have no set budget, Beltz said.
Each event is put together by a campus sponsor who provides the majority of the funds needed. Sponsors include organizations like Student Government, the Wellness Center, the Academic Support Center and the Greek community.
The campus bookstore and Independence Air also fund Civitas Week programming, Beltz said.
The Office of Campus Life hasn't tried to measure the campaign's effectiveness yet, Beltz said.
"For now most of the feedback is anecdotal. We'd like to do focus groups in the future, but we haven't started anything like that yet," she said.
The mission of the Civitas campaign is "to heighten our awareness of the relationship between our personal conduct and the quality of campus life," according to the Civitas Web site.
