Stanford’s Day of Kindness

On May 25, 2011, Stanford University held its first campus-wide official Day of Kindness. All that was required was being kind and noticing kindness throughout the day.

On the Stanford Day of Kindness Facebook page, the university had posted: “Stanford is much more than an elite academic and athletic institution. It is a place where people are compassionate. Let’s celebrate this.” The day was inspired by Karen Armstrong’s Charter for Compassion.

Students were encouraged to embrace any opportunity to take a minute out and do something kind for themselves or for someone else. Organizers placed more than 1,000 tiny gifts/treats (in pairs) around campus so that people could find and share them with others. Graduates and alumni were also encouraged to pay special attention to the kindness in their lives and make an extra effort to be a kind human being.

The video embedded below was created by students from the Project Compassion and Project Love student groups at Stanford University with the support of The Centre for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE).

 

Photo by flickr.com/SweetOnVeg