Walking around campus, you’ll see those now-signature posters: “I Am Williams,” they proclaim. But what exactly is Williams? What should Williams be? What do we value as the Williams community?

Next Thursday and Friday in Paresky and Goodrich, we will offer the community a number of ways to share, record, or simply talk about what they value and what they think Williams values. We hope to gather thoughts from you over these two days.

Building on this effort, Ephs from every corner of campus will come together over the next year and beyond in a collaborative effort to answer those questions. We will come together to define what the Williams community is––and the values that underlie it.

With open dialogue and a variety of perspectives, we will discuss what it means to make the best of Williams. Ultimately, we plan to establish a set of concrete values that describes what we all want our Williams to be. These are not simply buzzwords: They are substantive points in a mission statement that outline and describe our common standards and ideals.

These values, the Purple Values for our Purple Valley, will be a concise and accessible list of principles to help guide our community. This effort is about the process just as much as the final product, as this will provide an opportunity for introspection.

So, please help us make this possible. We need your input to better understand our community values. We look forward to seeing you next week!

Tobias Muellers ’18 – Gargoyle Society

Michael Rubel ’19 – College Council

Chetan Patel ’18 – College Council