Socially Responsible Practice

A movement

for justice

We are people from all walks of life committed to a common goal.

That goal is social justice, and these are the ideas that guide our actions as we work toward that goal together, on campus and off.

Health is a
human right

It is the foundation we need to achieve our highest potential, share our gifts and talents, and positively affect the world.

You can’t separate individual health from the health of the community.

Every domain of health—emotional, environmental, financial, intellectual, occupational, physical, social, and spiritual—is affected by what social scientists call “socially bound environmental factors.”

To put it another way, everything from employment to education, public safety, health care, poverty, and the degree to which we are—or are not—accepted by society at large affects our health.

The biggest threats to individual and community health today can’t be resolved by “fixing” people.

Oppression, violence, mass incarceration, addiction—all have their roots in public policy decisions and values that place economic or self-interest above social interest.

They’re not merely individual failings, they’re social failings—problems of society.

We—all of us—
are society.

Society is not an abstract idea. It’s not a majority, either, or an elite few—the best-off or the most powerful or productive. Society is the living, breathing community that we are all a part of by virtue of being human.

Social ills, then, don’t affect some people, they affect us all. And they’re not someone else’s to solve.

They’re ours.

Social justice
is a verb.

It’s what we do, together, to ensure that the resources and opportunities we all need to thrive—whether economic, political, civil, cultural, or social—are distributed equitably among us.

To do social justice is to practice social responsibility.

It’s the work every Adler student trains for. It’s a lifelong, passionate commitment to change the status quo.

To be an Adler student is to know and engage with diverse peoples, learn about historical and contemporary inequalities, build relationships to promote solidarity, gain knowledge and skills to advance social justice, confront and resist oppression, work to restore justice, and make reparations to, and reconciliation with, those aggrieved.

To be an Adler alum is to be a socially responsible practitioner, an effective agent of personal and social change in the pursuit of social justice.

Intention is not enough.

Neither is desire, belief, compassion, or even empathy.

If we intend to live in a more just society, we must act to create it. Wherever we are, whatever we are doing, professionally or personally, we must choose the social and political practices that will change our society and improve life for all.

We create our best and greatest solutions together.

Collective problems demand collective action—working with, not for.

By working with, we harness the value of local experience, expertise, traditions, and culture. We deepen our connections to each other and share our ideals. We put the idea of equality into practice.

To do all this, in whatever capacity, is to be an Adlerian.

It was Alfred Adler who first saw the connection between physical health, mental health, and social conditions.

It was Adler who pointed out that health professionals had a responsibility to address and confront social ills, and who was unafraid to be outspoken in urging a more equitable social order.

And it was Adler, along with Rudolf Dreikurs, the founder of what is now Adler University, who believed that positive social change was not only necessary but possible.

Theirs was not a belief based on ignorance or idealism—both had first-hand experience of war, poverty, nationalism, and antiSemitism.

It was a belief based on profound knowledge of humanity—of our human capacity to create, to choose, and to do what is right.

We are
Adler University.

These are the foundations of our work today, what we do every day—not for ourselves alone but for all—in communities across the globe.