In keeping with the themes presented in its Campaign for Kindness, ETSU participated in World Kindness Day on Nov. 13; students were invited to attend the “Kindness Rocks” event hosted by students from the department of counseling and human services, as well as engage with this year’s designated campus read “The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World” by Jamil Zaki.

“I think it really exemplifies what we do here as a campus,” said Associate Provost for Faculty Karin Keith. “I think it’s one of the things that sets ETSU apart from other campuses, every faculty, staff and student that I run into talks about how warm and inviting the campus is.”

Keith shared that the discovery of World Kindness Day actually came after they announced the Campaign for Kindness; once they realized World Kindness Day was on Nov. 13, they knew they had to incorporate it into their campaign. 

To do so, counseling and human services graduate students hosted a “Kindness Rocks” booth in the Culp from 11 a.m.- 2 p.m.. “Kindness Rocks” is a larger movement that has recently gained popularity; to participate, students paint rocks with positive messages on them and then leave them in different places around campus for others to see throughout the day.

Photo of ETSU student painting a rock during World Kindness Day. (Contributed/ETSU)

Although this was not the first time that ETSU has hosted a “Kindness Rocks” event, Human Services Program Coordinator Audrey Besch said that bringing it back for World Kindness Day sends an important message.

“[It] just signifies that there is this dedicated time for us to remind ourselves to be kind, to remind ourselves of the importance of [kindness] and engage in activities that continue to facilitate [kindness],” Besch said. 

For Phyllis Thompson, chair of the Department of Counseling and Human Services, hosting “Kindness Rocks” is a way to encourage unity among members of the ETSU campus and surrounding community.

“We wanted to pause with others worldwide to shine a light on the impact that acts of kindness have on belongingness, bringing people into community and uplifting empathy as a way to uplift one another,” Thompson stated in an email. “When we do this, we uplift others as well as ourselves.” 

Besch also notes the positive impact that “Kindness Rocks” has on mental wellness.

“One of the things that I think is really valuable about “Kindness Rocks” is that you get to take a minute to stop out of your busy day and engage in some kind of creative play,” Besch said. “Which is really important because we spend so much time in our heads, having busy schedules and not really [having the] intentional time to really focus on our wellness.”

Dean of Clemmer College of Education and Human Development, Janna Scarborough, furthers that the main themes surrounding the current ETSU campaign, like kindness, empathy and respect for others are all focuses that the university has uplifted in the past. 

“The university has attended a lot to how we treat each other,” Scarborough said. “I really think that that work has been led by the Strong Brain Institute and their trauma and resilience informed practices.”

The Strong Brain Institute was established in 2020 through a five-year grant from Ballad Health. The organization’s website states that it is the “preferred resource for promoting the awareness and empirical study of adverse childhood experiences; for promoting the development and dissemination of evidence-based practices that prevent, reduce, or mitigate the negative effects of ACEs on health and health disparities and for promoting a trauma-informed citizenry and workforce in the Appalachian Highlands region and beyond.”

Scarborough serves as a contributor to the Institute, which has influenced her perspective on the celebration of World Kindness Day and its focus on developing empathy.

“Empathy plays a part in understanding that people come from multiple different experiences and we think about that when we’re interacting with people,” Scarborough said. 

Keith also noted the connection between ETSU’s Campaign for Kindness and the objectives of the Strong Brain Institute.

“This [campaign] also aligns very nicely with the Strong Brain Institute, because their focus is on resilience and empathy,” Keith said. “[And] kindness is really an action that results from empathy.”

This year’s campaign was sparked by the selection of Zaki’s “The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World” as the campus read, which is a relatively new initiative at ETSU.

Keith shared that the annual campus read is chosen from books nominated by students, faculty and staff; 10 books from those nominations were selected and the ETSU community was allowed to vote for which they wanted to be the campus read.

The Sherrod Library currently carries 60 copies of Zaki’s book, which can be checked out for two hours at a time. Students are encouraged to read the book and participate in the virtual book club discussion, or students can take a photo of themselves reading or discussing the book and post it to social media with the hashtag: #etsucampaignforkindness.

Keith expects the process to elect next year’s campus read to begin in the spring.

For more information on the Strong Brain Institute, visit: www.etsu.edu/institute/strong-brain/

To learn more about ETSU’s Campaign for Kindness, participate in the online book club discussion or for information on how to get involved, visit: www.etsu.edu/kindness/