The Saluki Creed is an inspirational message derived from several sources, including the SIUC statement of objectives, Code of Conduct, the National Inter-Fraternity Conference with Select 2000 and the Carolinian Creed from University of South Carolina.

Vincent Carilli, assistant director of Student Development, was involved in the development of the creed.

One of the things I had recognized at professional conferences was some institutions had put together a creed to let the University community know what was expected of them, Carilli said. For the past two years, we have talked about creating one for SIUC.

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Carilli said the conduct of students over the last few Halloweens prompted the need for a written set of expectations of students for members of the community.

I really think it lets people within our academic community know what we expect of them, Carilli said.

SIUC Chancellor Donald Beggs said the creed honors history and tradition.

Beggs said the main focus in developing the creed was, who are we trying to speak to? and what do we want to say?

Beggs said this is a literal creed for those entering the Saluki community.

If you choose to join this community, we expect reasonable goals from you, Beggs said. For me, I hope this will become a tradition of the University. The convocation program this fall was the first effort to do so, and we had a very positive response from the creed.

Beggs said students should keep the creed in mind as being part of the University environment.

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When I read the Carolinian Creed, it was so applicable to the University environment, Beggs said. It provides meaningful structure, and at least from my standpoint, if I were Dave Vingren, I would be extremely excited to be the first person to read it.

Vingren said he enjoyed making a small bit of SIUC history.

I felt it was a great honor to be the first person to read it aloud, Vingren said.

Vingren said he views the creed to be a verbal representation of SIUC.

I feel this is something that I anticipate to be a symbol of what the University is all about, he said.

Carilli said he hopes all units of the University will look at it and take it to heart.

Let’s see if we can get from students, faculty and staff pride in the institution and what we value in the University, Carilli said. I’m very happy with it, and I hope we can all strive to uphold it.