Random Acts of Kindness Week Withdrawn

Reported by Emma Bach

This past week was intended to be Random Acts of Kindness Week here at George Fox University (GFU). Put on by Student Activities, the purpose of the week was “to promote gestures of gratitude and kindness to peers, faculty and members of the community.”

Audrey Alvarado, a fourth-year student and Student Activities leader, was the one who came up with the idea for Random Acts of Kindness Week. It was inspired by her participation in a thank-you card station set up by GFU athletes last spring.

“I wrote a letter to one of my professors who had just started working at Fox and later she told me how thankful she was for it,” Alvarado said. “It reminded me how big of an impact just one small act can do.”

Unfortunately, due to poor promotional timing, the official event was essentially removed from activities.

“Our team met and discussed how we didn't feel like the Random Acts was promoted well enough, especially since it was right at the start of this semester,” Alvarado said. “So we decided to pull the event.”

However, Student Activities continued to advertise on social media with “challenges that encouraged students to promote gratitude and kindness to those around them.”

While Random Acts of Kindness Week was ultimately pulled, compassion was still present on campus, from exchanging cards to treating others to coffee. It has yet to be determined if the designated week of kindness will be rescheduled for later in the semester.