When you walk into Stetson President Christopher F. Roellke’s office, one of the first things you notice is a wooden canvas hanging on the wall displaying a phrase by Mother Teresa that reads “Three things in the human life are important: The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. The third is to be kind.”

Back in 2020, as Roellke prepared to become Stetson’s 10th president and embrace the community amid the COVID-19 pandemic, there was one word that kept coming to his mind. That word was kindness.

“I felt like the only way we were going to get through that challenging once-in-a-century set of challenges was if we were kind to one another,” said Roellke, PhD, also a professor of American Studies and Education. “That doesn’t mean we would always agree on policy decisions, which we have to make with the best evidence we have in front of us. … But I did know, and still believe, that we’ll end up in a better place if we can all abide by notions of kindness.” 

So, what does “kindness” mean to Roellke? Why should we, as Hatters, abide by notions of kindness? 

“It doesn’t mean that we just let things roll off of us,” he said. “What it does mean is that we listen carefully to multiple perspectives, that we try to put ourselves in the shoes of someone else’s experience, that we always assume that all members of our community come with the best of intentions.”

For Roellke, talking about kindness reminds him of his late father, Bob Roellke, and the mantra that molded his own notion of kindness and positive thinking while growing up and even to this day: “Keep smiling.” 

“What I felt my Dad meant by ‘keep smiling,’ and the way I chose to make it mean to me, was that you are going to learn a lot about people during times of adversity,” he said. “The importance of positive thinking, that no matter what is thrown your way, that if you can figure out the good in it and the learning in it — hence being able to smile despite adversity, because you see the good in it and how it makes one grow — good things are going to happen. 

“So, that mantra has played a vital role in my life,” Roellke added. “And I know he’s been gone a long time now, but I still channel my father every day because he was such a wonderful model for how to tackle life.” 

That same model plays an important role at Stetson. If you ask community members what makes this campus unique, they mention how kind everyone is. And kindness, as Roellke points out, is often seen in small gestures that have a huge impact. 

“Kindness, of course, has become part of the fabric of Stetson not just because of me,” Roellke said. “It is in the DNA of our university … what I have attempted to do is to be explicit and talk about it. I think that it’s become part of the narrative here at Stetson because it’s a distinguishing feature of our community, and I do think we have it here — organically, authentically — and that’s meaningful.”

– Andrea Mujica

What does Kindness mean to you?