Through internal dialog (on a personal and community level), the Keepers seek to promote awareness and conversation in regards to the covenant and its three tenants. In an effort to achieve this goal, the Keepers are producing a series of videos on the Maryville College Covenant. This is the first video in that series. We begin with a focus on the question “What is scholarship?” Consider the responses on your own and in conversation with others.
Scholarship:
Respect:
Integrity:
INFORMATION ABOUT THE KEEPERS AND THEIR ROLL
Serving as an advisory group to the College President, the Keepers of the Covenant shall provide campus leadership for keeping watch over the College Covenant, and to ensure its viability as a document that inspires the Maryville College community toward honoring its principles and values.
The group consists of 8 student members (2 from each class), 3 faculty members, and 3 staff members. In addition, the Vice President & Dean of the College, the Vice President & Dean of Students, and the Student Government President shall serve as ex-officio members. The group is co-chaired by one student member and one faculty member. Each year, 2 new first-year members are nominated to the President of the College by the Student Government President.
The Keepers of the Covenant are a group of Maryville College students, staff, and faculty, who are responsible for
fostering the concept of the Covenant. The work of the Keepers includes developing mechanisms to explore the
meaning and significance of the Covenant as well as developing and encouraging the use of its principles as a basis for
individual behavior and social interaction in the college community. Such mechanisms include:
- Encouraging open communication about the Covenant by holding forums or other discussion formats on issues
impacting community members’ relationships; - Developing and participating in meaningful ceremonies of commitment;
- Identifying individuals who are role models in following the Covenant in their own lives in the college
community; - Developing means to assist community members to mindfully use it as a guide in their daily lives in the
community with one another.
Through the work of the Keepers all constituencies of the campus community will develop a sense of ownership of the
Covenant and develop the insight that the Covenant has relevance to all members of the college community.
The Keepers of the Covenant have decided to develop awards called Spirit of the Covenant Awards, which serve to recognize individual members of the Maryville College community, who embody the spirit of the principles of the Covenant. These individuals serve as models to us all in the manner in which they live their lives. The Keepers identified the first group receiving the Spirit of the Covenant Award based on their own knowledge of community members. The Keepers acknowledge that there is no one model of the spirit of the Covenant, that there is diversity in the means that community members can embody these principles, and, therefore, that recognition should never exclusively be given to one individual. The Keepers of the Covenant present these awards with the hope that the recipients will inspire more of us to be respectful of others, to live lives of integrity, and to focus our energies to pursue learning through scholarship. The award was established in 2002. Each year at the Leadership Awards Ceremony, three to five recipients (MC students, staff, and/or faculty) are chosen who embody the spirit and principles of the three pillars of the Covenant: Scholarship, Respect and Integrity.
The Keepers of the Covenant plan and host a New Student Covenant Ceremony at the beginning of each academic year to allow new students the chance to engage with and join into our Maryville College Covenant. This tradition was initiated by staff and students in 1996.