At the March meeting, President James Wagner continued a discussion he had begun in January on Emory’s particular distinctions. He explained why it is important to be able to articulate Emory’s uniqueness among its institutional peers. “We can do a better job in student recruiting and retention,” he said, “and in making our case to faculty and helping our alumni understand what we are becoming.”

Following discussions with other governance groups, deans, the President’s Cabinet, the alumni, trustees, and students, Wagner noted, “it was something about the character, the nature of being in the commmunity,” that repeatedly emerged as a quality that makes Emory special. He identified courage, collaboration, ethical engagement, generosity, and hospitality toward spiritual belief and practice, among others, as expressions of that quality. “This report will be advising how we talk about ourselves and how we brand ourselves,” he said. “I think it will find its way into some of our fundraising and recruiting literature for students.”

Click here to read all Council Concerns reports on “Identifying Emory’s Distinctiveness.”