Chapter 4: Cultivating Supportive Campus Environments

As a Health Promoting Campus, Cornell University is dedicated to fostering a diverse, welcoming, and inclusive culture in which students, faculty, and staff can thrive. Every member of the Cornell community holds both the responsibility and the opportunity to contribute to a supportive and inclusive campus environment. 

This toolkit provides student leaders with key considerations, strategies, and resources to support them in creating supportive environments for their organizations.

Creating Supportive Campus Environments 

Supportive environments foster openness, active engagement, and holistic growth, enabling individuals to thrive and experience well-being (i.e., flourish). Within such environments, experiences of belonging and connection naturally emerge among group members. These experiences are deeply personal and shaped by people’s unique backgrounds. 

Belonging matters 

Belonging is the sense of security and support that arises when individuals feel accepted and included as their authentic selves. A key aspect of belonging and connection is the feeling of being understood through meaningful social and emotional interactions — through shared experiences or meaningful engagement across differences. As you explore this toolkit, consider: How does your organization currently support a feeling of belonging, and where might there be opportunities to grow? 

Student organizations provide a space in which students can connect and engage with one another. As leaders of these organizations, you have the privilege and responsibility to foster an environment in which students engage meaningfully with one another. Research supports the importance of belonging to supporting student mental health. For instance, Cornell’s Spring 2024 Student Wellbeing Survey found that a sense of belonging helps students feel connected, supported, and valued, leading to increased resilience, engagement, and a greater willingness to seek help when needed.

As a student leader, it is as important to prioritize feelings of belonging and connection among group members as it is to achieve your stated mission and goals. In fact, a lack of connection is a contributing factor to poor outcomes such as low engagement or not among groups.   

Key Characteristics of a Supportive Environment 

Creating supportive environments requires intentional efforts to empower students to be open, engage as their authentic selves, and grow as individuals. Your leadership can make a lasting impact. By fostering belonging, you can help create a stronger, more connected and supportive campus community.  

Key strategies for cultivating supportive environments include: 

• Recognize and respect members as individuals with unique identities and experiences.
• Embrace inclusivity, empathy, and shared responsibility. 
• Foster openness, curiosity, and continuous reflection.   

Throughout this toolkit, we will explore these strategies and provide resources to help you implement them effectively within your organization.