Emory University: Capturing Emorys Essence Through the Master Idea

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Emory University Capturing Emorys Essence
Through the Master Idea
10.31.06
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Why Now?
ALIGNING EMORY

• Over the past several decades, Emory has
  struggled with a fragmented culture. We have
  hungered for a well-defined identity that can
  align us internally and help raise awareness
  externally.
• The strategic plan, developed with input
  throughout the organization, provided a common
  vision to guide our journey and was a first
  essential step to aligning Emory.
• What we still needed was a single message, a
  statement of identity, that captures what were
  already doing and puts a ribbon around what were
  already saying.

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What Is the Master Idea?
BRIGHTHOUSE

• We embarked on a thorough exercise, led by our
  Marketing group and partner BrightHouse, to
  articulate the Master Idea that is an authentic
  and inspiring expression of our core essence.
• The Master Idea
• Answers not the What or How, but the Why Emory
  matters
• Is excavated, not created
• Is authentic to our ethos and values
• Is a permanent and generative expression, not a
  short-term tagline
• Crystallizes the core purpose of an organization
• When lived internally, and delivered sincerely
  externally, the Master Idea has the power to
  align Emorys culture and broaden the
  Institutions reach.

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What the Master Idea Does

• Creates a sense of shared identity and fosters
  community among faculty, staff, students and
  other in the family constituents.
• Provides the foundation for a compelling,
  distinctive statement of identity that attracts
  and retains talent and inspires donors.
• Aligns various organizational groups under a
  common and meaningful purpose.
• Clarifies the development of communications,
  programs and policies to form an integrated
  infrastructure that can accelerate the
  organizations progress toward its goals.

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The Master Idea Provides a Lens for the Whole
Organization
The power of Emorys Master Idea will be realized
when not only communications, but also internal
programs and culture are aligned with our
identity and purpose. It is a consolidated
expression of who Emory is and is derived from
values, mission and vision and supportive of
Emorys strategic plan.
MASTER IDEA
Vision Mission Values
Strategic Objectives
COMMUNICATIONS Advertising/Marketing Public
Relations Fundraising Collateral Meetings
Announcements Speeches
PROGRAMS Incentive Plans Partners
Alliances Operational Initiatives Education
Training Community Outreach Mentorship
CULTURE Visual Identity Physical
Environment Recruitment Evaluation Job
descriptions Traditions Holidays
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The Master Idea Emerged From a Thorough
Exploration of Emory

• Destiny Sessions with Emory administration
• One-on-one interviews (77) with faculty,
  students, staff, alumni and community
• Strategic Plan and historical review
• Brand research, surveys and focus groups
• Campus tours
• Founders week / Employee Council Presidential
  Town Hall
• Competitive overview, review of trends in higher
  education
• Exploration to learn about and understand
  courageous inquiry and courageous leadership

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Findings
ETHOTIC EXPLORATION

• A Courageous Beginning
• Throughout its history, Emory has honored the
  risk its founders took by taking bold steps to
  become a leading educational and research
  Institution with global reach.
• Preparing Citizens
• Emory was founded on, and still embraces, the
  principle that education should mold character as
  well as mind and equip students to be responsible
  members of their communities.
• A Moral Obligation
• True to its Methodist origins, Emory retains an
  enduring spirit and sense of responsibility for
  tackling pressing social issues.

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Findings
ETHOTIC EXPLORATION

• A History of Gift and Privilege
• Emory remains recognized, both internally and
  externally, as a privileged institution. Our
  unique and unparalleled collection of people,
  schools and resources distinguish Emory and
  provide a tremendous opportunity to turn a
  negative perception of privilege into a positive
  transformative force.
• A Prudent Heart
• Despite a shared aspiration to create positive
  change in the community and world, there is also
  universal agreement that Emory struggles with a
  prudent conservatism that keeps it from
  translating its vision of courageous leadership
  into action.

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• If we of this generation are willing to put forth
  the same efforts and to endure the same
  hardshipsas did our forbearers (orig.
  fathers), I am confident that the coming
  generations will have the opportunity to be
  prepared to solve the evolving problems of the
  next century.
• President Harvey Cox, Centennial address, 1936
• We have inherited an expectation that those who
  have the privilege to come here for an education
  carry with it a corresponding obligation to
  society.
• President James T. Laney, Sesquicentennial
  address, 1986
• But with such great privilege comes also great
  responsibility to whom much is given, much also
  will be required. I have no doubt that with your
  Emory education you will leave here and you will
  do well, but even as you do well I challenge you
  also to do good.
• President James Wagner, Commencement address, 2006

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TO WHOM MUCH IS GIVEN.
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MUCH IS EXPECTED.
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Where Courageous Inquiry Leads

• By definition, courage entails a willingness to
  face danger, take risks and tolerate anxiety.
• Courageous leadership stems from personal
  responsibility. Fostering courage requires both
  teaching people that they can do it and setting
  the expectation that they must.
• Courage does not imply recklessness.
  Successfully nurturing courage means having the
  right systems, tools and resources in place.

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The Master Idea
Use your gift.
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The Master Idea

• Use your gift.
• Everyone has a gift. At Emory, we have many. And
  with these gifts come responsibility. The
  responsibility to act. To reach beyond success to
  significance. To discover our gifts and use them
  not just for personal goals, but also for global
  ones. A responsibility to make use of our talents
  and to use the reach of our prestigious
  institution to enliven the human spirit, to
  teach, to discover, to lead, to innovate, to
  heal. To have the courage to ask the burning
  questions of our time, and the strength to answer
  them. Because we can. Because we must.
• This is why we will use what weve been given,
  what weve worked for, because to hoard it,
  refuse it, silence it, or even let it lie
  stagnant is to do a great disservice to ourselves
  and a world in need. To whom much is given, much
  is expected. We will exceed expectations. We will
  use our gifts to impact Emory, our community, the
  entire university system, the world.

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The Master Idea
Use your gift.
A DIRECTIVE TO PUT INTO ACTION OR SERVICE
A STATEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL AND INSTITUTIONAL
OWNERSHIP
A REMINDER OF THE ENDOWMENTS, NATURAL AND
BESTOWED, FACULTIES, ABILITIES AND TALENTS THAT
EMORY POSSESSES
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What Does It Mean to Use Your Gift?

• On an individual level, Use your gift means
• Embracing a path of life-long learning so that we
  can continually discover and develop our gifts.
• Applying our talents and sharing our gifts
  whether through building knowledge, research,
  leadership, healing, planning, etc.
• Recognizing that we are part of a larger
  community and engaging our gifts to improve the
  community and world around us.
• Pushing personal boundaries and having the
  courage to take risks.
• Pursing knowledge for knowledges sake--discovery
  and scholarship is a public good in itself.
• Pursing the arts for the sake of a deeper human
  understanding

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What Does It Mean to Use Your Gift?

• On an institutional level, Use your gift means
• Recognizing the power that our endowments,
  natural and bestowed, provide us with being
  conscious of our ability to be a powerful actor
  in the world.
• Recognizing that there are many community and
  social issues that our capabilities and resources
  can uniquely address and having the courage to
  address them.
• Recognizing that our contributions to creative
  thinking and imagining new ideas illuminate the
  worlds future.
• Empowering people to engage in scholarship and in
  their communities and setting the expectation
  that they must.
• Understanding that courageous thought and action
  come with anxiety and failure and building a
  structure that accommodates them.

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What Does It Mean to Use Your Gift?
We use our gifts in the principled practice of
business leadership and global wealth creation
in advancing the scholarship of the rule of law
in civil society in leading the expedition
toward the answers to ultimate theological
questions in preparing the next generation of
scholars and researchers in the research,
education, and care-giving by our nursing, public
health, and medical schools and in health
care. Attention to the public good is a defining
part of the Emory character and use your gift
is a galvanizing call to action for us to create
a collective voice that influences the world
powerfully and beckons each of us to amplify our
own voice so that our individual gift is heard
and felt profoundly.
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Using Use Your Gift

• Use your gift provides a platform for all Emory
  communications. Every piece of communication
  (e.g. brochure, direct mail, press release, etc.)
  is an opportunity to reinforce Emorys commitment
  to applying our individual and institutional
  gifts to achieve not only success, but
  significance.

NOT A TAGLINE
Use your gift is not a tagline. It is an idea
that needs to be translated for each audience,
school, center, unit, etc. Use your gift will
mean something different for each group within
Emory. The phrase can be used as a tagline for
the Emory brand only for internal (faculty,
staff, students) and in the family (parents,
donors, alumni) audiences. It will always be used
in context - not stand alone.
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Communicating to Different Audiences
UNDERGRADUATESTUDENTS
Find and develop your gifts
Hone your gift
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Honor your gift by applying your talents
ALUMNI
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Next Steps

• Each of us is an ambassador for Emory. Start
  using Use your gift to guide programs, events,
  communications, etc.
• Share the idea with your team and colleagues.
  Think about what it means for your group and the
  audiences you reach.
• Begin weaving into communications speeches,
  website, brochures, press releases, etc.
• Communications tools and messaging guidelines are
  in development and will be made available through
  the website.
• Contact Marketing with any questions and comments
  or for messaging tips and guidelines in the
  interim.

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US News World Report OUR STUDENTS DO WELL.
THEY ALSO DO GOOD. Yes, were a top ranked
university focused on academics, but were also
focused on the impact this knowledge can have.
And while we may reside in Atlanta, our reach
extends all over the world. This is why we ask
our students to find their gifts and then to use
them to improve themselves, and ultimately, the
world. Come find your gift, come to Emory.
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Chronicle AJC HR Ad WE SEE YOUR INDIVIDUALITY
AS A GIFT. At Emory University, every employee
brings something special to us. Whether its
their talent, knowledge, ideas, or unique
perspectives, each individual contributes to the
betterment of our University, the community
and...even the world. Your gift could be used in
so many ways to inspire to serve to heal to
teach - isnt it time you shared it? .
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• Emory Magazine Alumni Ad
• Photojournalist Susan Sterner 86C is one of
  thousands of Emory alumni using their giftsnot
  just for personal success, but for positive
  change. Susan spent two years in rural Brazil,
  documenting the lives of women there. Her vivid
  photographs led others to new understanding of
  the need for help and compassion. How will you
  use your gift? Visit www.alumni.emory.edu.

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• Rollins School of Public Health
• Alumni Magazine
• This is the first in a series of articles
  highlighting RSPH alumni, students, faculty and
  staff who are using their gifts to make a
  difference in public health.

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(No Transcript)
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Annual Fund Thank You html e-mail Dear Emory
Donors Thank you for your gift to Emory
University. The generosity of donors like you
helped us to raise more than 114 million during
the 2005-2006 giving year which ended on August
31st. Your gift plays a critical role here at
Emory. It enables our students to identify their
unique gifts and use them to further Emory's
mission of positive transformation both inside
and outside of the classroom. Thank you for your
generosity. Your gift gives Emory students the
opportunity to learn how to share their gifts
with the world. Best wishes and many thanks.
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Law School eFlash Presentation (excerpts) We have
many opportunities and privileges and we will act
on them. At Emory, our commitment to service is
seen in what we do. We enable students to work
with nonprofit organizations during the summer
months. Our four clinics provide real advocacy
experience while serving the community. We have
the courage to ask the tough questions and to act
on the answers. At Emory, we have been given
much we strive for excellence in everything we
do. to enhance our already strong faculty . . .
and to capitalize on the gifts of our excellent
students.
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ATO Fraternity Mission Statement To create,
maintain, and promote a diverse environment which
challenges its brothers to leverage their
individual and collective gifts to better serve
the Emory community and beyond through the
development of passionate leaders, excellent
scholars, and socially responsible
citizens. President Wagners Address to
First-Year Parents, Aug. 26, 2006 "We understand
the importance of being a good university as we
strive to be great. We are excited to welcome a
new wave of eager scholars bent on making a
difference as they seek to grow in knowledge and
in wisdom. Emory is a place to discover one's
gift and develop the capacity to effectively use
that gift."
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Letter to Alumni Legacy Award Recipients This
award is a way for us to recognize and celebrate
the special relationship you and your family
share with Emory. It also allows us the
opportunity to express our gratitude and say
thanks for your continued generational support.
Our hope is that this award will ease your
transition into the Emory community as you
explore all that Emory has to offer. At Emory, we
believe that everyone has a gift and a
responsibility to find that gift and use
it. Note from Andy Wilson, assistant dean for
campus life/director of residence life, Aug. 27,
2006 In case you needed some data that "Use Your
Gift" has been used in practice on campus, one of
our halls incorporated it into their theme in the
Residence Hall Decorating Contest. Senior
Resident Advisor Brittany Rayburn of Turman South
placed 2nd in our Hall Decorating Contest today
using the master idea as a way to illustrate
careers in the nonprofit industry. Just thought
you'd like to know that all the hard work is
paying off!
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Office of University-Community Partnerships Visit
ors Guide Advertisement We offer many portals
through which Emory students, faculty, and staff
can channel their intellectual gifts to solve
real world problems. Excerpt from Senior Search
Letter, Emory College Diverse Undergraduate
Education Emory is known for our commitment to
creating positive transformation in the worldwe
expect our students to do well and also do good
for the world. Undergraduate programs in
humanities, sciences, business, and nursing allow
Emory students to explore their talents and
affect change. Choose between two campuses for
freshman and sophomore yearseither the main
campus in Atlanta, or in Oxford, where the school
was originally founded. By junior year, all
students take classes on the main Atlanta campus
where you have the opportunity to continue with
liberal arts courses or to apply to either the
highly regarded business or nursing schools.
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Goizueta Business School, The 2007 Class Gift
Campaign It's not what you give, it's that you DO
give .Everyone has a gift. At Goizueta, we have
many. With these gifts comes responsibility -
the responsibility to act, be involved, and to
give back.We will use our gifts and abilities
not just for personal goals, but also for global
ones. At Goizueta, our mission is to create
principled leaders for global enterprise. To
reach this end, we will use our talents,
resources and the reach of our prestigious
institution to enliven the human spirit, to
teach, to discover, to lead, and to innovate. We
will use what weve been given and what weve
worked for, because to let it lay stagnant is to
do a great disservice to ourselves and a world in
need. To whom much is given, much is expected.
We will exceed expectations. Sponsorship Message
for PBSs Eyes on the Prize Support for
diversity programming on PBA Thirty comes from
Emory Unviersity who works collaboratively to
create positive transformation in the world.
ONLINE AT EMORY-DOT-E.D.U.
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How Use Your Gift is DistinctiveUse Your Gift
is unique in that it is an imperative in an
otherwise passive era of higher education.  It is
a galvanizing call to action for Emory to create
a collective voice among our schools that
influences the world powerfully and beckons each
of us to amplify our own voice so that our
individual gift is heard and felt
profoundly.The question is not how Use Your
Gift is unique but how each of us will use our
gift to build an institution that is unique.
Unique in that we stand for something bigger than
just education. That will take courage.
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Communications Guide, Excerpts from Ellens
Letter Use your gift will serve as a
communications platform moving forward. We did
not develop this positioning by looking at what
other schools were or were not saying. Emory will
become distinctive by first sharing a focused
sense of purpose, living the commitment
internally, and then delivering this message
sincerely to the world. Many of you are eager to
begin using this concept and have begun thinking
about how it applies to your group. This document
provides guidance for incorporating Use your gift
into communications, whether on behalf of Emory
as a whole, the University, or individual schools
and units. It is not intended to be a mandate,
but rather to provide context to help weave the
meaning of Use your gift into existing messages.
As ambassadors for Emory, we can extend Emorys
reach and help us reach our collective potential.
This is the legacy we can all give to Emory. Good
luck using your gift so that Emorys gift can
become better known.
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Communications Guide Contents Our Guiding
Principle--Use Your Gift is Emorys DNA, its holy
grail, its soul Communicating our Guiding
Principle--what do we mean by Use, what do we
mean by gift, other ways to say Use Your Gift,
word choices Our voice--tone Talking to different
audiences--students, faculty, staff,
alumni Graphic building blocks--the shield, fonts
and logos, photography Graphic and messaging
examples