Shenandoah’s Spirit of Citizenship
University Community Shines as It Reflects the Ideals of Famed Speech
As Shenandoah University’s Staff Council kicked off its professional development series for the fall 2020 semester on Aug. 12, it offered its deepest thanks to all of those working hard on behalf of the Shenandoah community in challenging times. Senior Vice President and Vice President for Advancement Mitch Moore invoked a famous speech that celebrates those who aspire to do more for the world and never give up in the face of adversity:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the person who points out how strong people stumble, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the person who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends themselves in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if they fail, at least fail while daring greatly, so that their place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Adapted from the April 23, 1910 “Citizenship in a Republic” speech by former President Theodore Roosevelt.
