Honors in Action Project: Many Forms of Incivility

We began this journey early with proposed themes from the prior officer team. Following the training at the July Summer Institute at Washington University, the new officer team had a plan for disseminating information to the members, gaining interest and creating a committee, but it was not that easy.

Months in to the process, little was accomplished. Our chapter experienced incivility first-hand as we impeached our elected Hallmark Secretary who was unreliable, unresponsive, and disrespectful. Fortunately, something good came from the experience. From that exercise came the development of one driven member then serving as Fellowship Chair the opportunity to lead the Honors in Action project. This also created an opening for another member to take a leadership role as Fellowship chair to keep our chapter united. At first, there was some animosity between the impeached officer and our newly elected Hallmark Secretary but we quickly forged ahead and got to work.

Of the 10 themes, Theme 1 was the front-runner but we opened it up to members and several others were submitted for consideration. Through a vote, we agreed on Theme 1: It's All in the Mind Psychology and Competition. The first order of business was to have members explore the theme and present ideas for the question. From the many ideas came an apparent interest in the trending issue of bullying and incivility and how it related to competition. Once we had a new Hallmark Secretary in place, we assembled a committee. Via social media, we set up a secret page where we had 19 committee members engaging in dialogue and uploading their research findings and other related information. This was the best way to promote inclusion and make is possible for geographically challenge...

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...knowledging that incivility is a growing problem in America not only with children in schools but in the workplace, and among top political leaders, and is inching us closer to anarchy. This article was pivotal in the revision of our question and helped us to appreciate the need for more advocacy and identify the action part of our project.

8. “Workplace Bullying Survey Final Report” by Elizabeth A. Williams, Ph.D. and Yedalis Ruiz, M.Ed. September 2012. http://www.umass.edu/local1776/Flyers,%20Updates%20&%20Documents_files/WBS%20Final%20Report%202012%2010%2004.pdf. These are the results of a study performed at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to break down workplace bullying statistics and included both undergraduate students and graduate students as well. This report helped to dispel the myth in our minds that bullying is mostly “just for kids.” (555 words)