Aloha Yellow Jackets,

For those returning to Georgia Tech, welcome back! For the members of the Class of 2028, congratulations on your decision to join the Ramblin’ Wreck family! To all: I hope you had some fun this summer, no matter where you visited, worked, or played! As for my summer, I visited family for two weeks in Phoenix, where it hit 118 degrees, and I got some R&R while binge-watching House of the Dragon and Snowpiercer.
 
I’m excited to share many new things happening in Student Engagement and Well-Being as we continue to support you both in and out of the classroom. To reiterate, this newsletter is intended to keep you updated throughout the academic year about the people, policies, programs, and services that impact your sense of belonging, well-being, and holistic success. I hope you will find it informative and helpful, and I welcome your feedback on what would be useful to you.
 
In this issue, let’s focus on some topics to help you start the semester with the right tools! These include:

• Freedom of Expression at Georgia Tech: Rights & Responsibilities
• Preparing for Election Season: Exercising Your Civic Duty
• Prevention is Better Than the Cure: Take Care of Yourself & Others 

Freedom of Expression at Georgia Tech: Rights & Responsibilities
For returning students, you may recall that we spent much of last year discussing free speech and academic freedom. For new Yellow Jackets, we will review and explore the importance of safeguarding freedom of expression and inquiry throughout your academic career, as it is highlighted as one of our strategic values. 

If you haven’t yet viewed the Introduction to Freedom of Expression at GT video at FASET Orientation this summer or last summer, I encourage you to take 10 minutes and watch it. It highlights why this value is so important to us as an educational institution and as an inclusive community that embraces all individuals, regardless of backgrounds and perspectives. It also outlines the rights and responsibilities we each have in upholding this value. 

To help make freedom of expression and inquiry a part of our shared ”habits,” Georgia Tech will launch a comprehensive educational campaign in partnership with the Constructive Dialogue Institute, with the goal of increasing understanding about free speech rights while also building our capacities to communicate across identity and ideological differences responsibly - and doing so with care and compassion for each other. We launch this initiative in late September or early October, so please stay tuned. 

Additional information about the GT Freedom of Expression Initiative and additional resources available to the campus community can be found on our website. While there, be sure to familiarize yourself with Georgia Tech’s time, place, and manner procedures – which provide guidelines for how you can exercise your rights to expressive activity while also honoring the rights of others.

Preparing for Election Season: Exercising Your Civic Duty
Election season is right around the corner in November, and I want to encourage you to be an active participant in our democracy and have your voice be heard by voting. According to Tuft University’s National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, 40.4% of students at GT eligible to vote in 2022 did so (compared to 30.6% of students at all campuses surveyed). We would like to get this number higher in 2024!

No matter which political party you support or where you stand on the issues, you have a fundamental right to express your views. Choosing our elected leaders and providing input on proposed ballot measures are ways to do that. Visit the State of Georgia voter information page or the  Georgia Secretary of State voter resource page to learn more about participating in the November election. Fulton County provides specific information about college students and voting. Lastly, information specific to Georgia Tech students can be found on the Institute’s voting information webpage.

Please know that Section 4.1.3 of the University System of Georgia Board of Regents Policy requires that universities give students an excused absence to vote in local, state, or federal elections if a student's course schedule would prevent them from voting. If you need to miss class to vote, be sure to email your professors ahead of Election Day to request an excused absence. If you need assistance exercising your right to vote, you can also contact the Dean of Students Office.

We recognize that not all students at Georgia Tech are able to vote. Even if this is the case, you can still become civically engaged with the political process: volunteer to help campaign for a candidate or educate community members about the important issues under consideration. While voting is a key aspect of democratic participation, it is not the only way to exercise agency or voice.

Prevention is Better Than the Cure: Take Care of Yourself & Others 
While it’s easy sometimes to take your health for granted, research consistently demonstrates the importance of wellness and well-being in contributing to holistic success – including reaching your academic aspirations. We also know that prevention – actively incorporating health-promoting behaviors in your daily life – is better than waiting for a health issue to fester and get worse over time.  
 
To guide our efforts, Georgia Tech has adopted the eight dimensions of wellness – emotional, physical, social, spiritual, environmental, intellectual, occupational, and financial – which are interrelated and interdependent. Sustaining well-being is enhanced when you positively impact multiple dimensions rather than just focusing on one of them.

Georgia Tech offers a vast array of health and wellness programs and services to support you on your academic journey and help you develop “wellness habits” that can last a lifetime. Kickstarting your year with mindful self-care and healthy choices will prepare you for those more challenging moments in the semester and hopefully make them easier to navigate.
 
In this regard, Housing and Residence Life, in partnership with numerous other departments across campus, launched a new signature initiative this month for all first-time, first-year college students called the First-Year Wellness Experience. It comprises a comprehensive set of activities, events, and workshops, all designed to build a strong foundation for Cultivating Well-Being – one of the cornerstones of our Institute Strategic Plan – that will sustain you throughout your college journey. Each month of the academic year, new students will focus on one of the eight dimensions of wellness. 

As you develop your personal toolkit, it’s particularly important to build and sustain a network of social support, which can include friends, family members, fur babies and anyone or anything else that helps to rejuvenate and restore you! In fact, in 2023, the US Surgeon General reported on the importance of social connection and community to advancing well-being. Research shows that having just 1-2 non-toxic relationships with friends or partners can have a measurably positive impact on an individual’s emotional, social, and spiritual wellness. More connections can be better, but the data shows authenticity, depth, and quality of relationships are more important than quantity. Staff in the division of Arts, Belonging & Community can point you in the right direction to start building your Yellow Jacket “fam.”

Next, start practicing how to ask for help: nobody can make it through Georgia Tech alone. We all need help at some point during the academic journey. While we strive to live up to the Yellow Jacket motto, “#WeCanDoThat,” the reality is that sometimes we can’t – or at least not on the first attempt (or second or third), and likely not without the assistance of others. A full life, well-lived, is filled with disappointment, failure, and opportunities to learn – even as it is enriched by joy, laughter, and the thrill of accomplishment. So, don’t hesitate to reach out to faculty, staff, student service offices, or community organizations when you start to feel anxious or overwhelmed – or just need to talk things through. Finally, keep in mind that you can help others in turn by being there for them in times of need. #PayItForward

Student Engagement and Well-Being and the entire Georgia Tech community remain committed to providing resources, referrals, services, and support regarding a wide range of issues that impact students’ lives throughout their time here. Let’s all strive to offer grace and treat one another with compassion and kindness as we start a new Fall semester. As always, please do not hesitate to reach out if my office or our cabinet area can provide the encouragement or support you need to be successful.