Mission

The Charter for Compassion provides the guiding principles and grounds the work for our Compassionate University Initiative.

Our Compassionate Education Action and Development Council (CEADC) works to create opportunities for compassionate education and to support our students who are inspired to take action as a result of the opportunities.

Vision

Our vision of the compassion movement is that acts of compassion—on our campus, in our communities and beyond—will bring about a measurable shift and a discernible difference in how we learn each other’s stories, behave toward one another and demonstrate the ethical concept we know as the Golden Rule.

Blue and Golden
“Treat others as you would like to be treated.” At Pitt-Bradford we strive to follow the Golden Rule.

At the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, we agree that

the principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the center of our world and put another there, and to honor the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.

It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others—even our enemies—is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.

We therefore call upon all men and women to restore compassion to the center of morality and religion; to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate; to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures; to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity; to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings, even those regarded as enemies.

We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensable to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.

                                                                                                                                                Charter for Compassion