Be Good. Be Orange.

Submitted by Rodney Fischer

When you think of the Oregon State Beavers and our “Be Orange” motto, what does this motto entail? Is it pride and excellence? Is it compassion and integrity? Or is it a compilation of core values? Oregon State claims five core values on the OSU Strategic Plan (http://catalog.oregonstate.edu/ChapterDetail.aspx?key=2) including accountability, diversity, integrity, respect, and social responsibility. But should “being orange” simply consist of recognizing and occasionally acting according to these vague definitions of core values? Take for example the definition of diversity, it isn’t a definition at all, but rather an idea that is open to interpretation.

OSU defines diversity as follows: “We recognize that diversity and excellence go hand-in-hand, enhancing our teaching, scholarship, and service as well as our ability to welcome, respect, and interact with people” (see link above). The strategic plan fails to actually define their claimed values with explicit definitions, and the plan omits the importance of practicing these values. These lackluster definitions offered by OSU for these core values form a basis for the meaning of being orange, yet the offered list lacks in quantity and passion, but more importantly deprives viewers of the direction of how to be orange and why a student would want to be orange. I will unpack a couple of omitted values necessary to be orange including optimal effort and courage, followed by direction on how to be orange.

To be orange means to perform to the best of your abilities. To be orange you must transition into the post-graduation world and continue your orange lifestyle. That means waking up every morning with a purpose and will and plan to succeed. It’s waking up for your 8am class, staying in the library until midnight, and doing homework on Sundays. Being orange means you are always striving for success. The importance of ambition is stressed because this is what will help students of OSU become successful individuals who may positively contribute to society. Students strive to be orange because that is what will help them conqueror the struggles of life.

The OSU core values include integrity and respect, but in order to practice these values to be orange students must be courageous; courageous enough to stand up for what is morally right even if you are the only one standing. Courage is the willingness to confront an uncomfortable situation, which is many times dangerous, painful, or against social norms. Being orange means you will look fear directly in the eye and say “get the hell out of the way, I have shit to do.” Students should heed this working definition and example of courage, as it reminds us courage is an honorable yet difficult value to practice. Being orange is the maintenance of integrity despite distracting surroundings such as pain or danger, as well as recognizing that immoral inaction is as equally wrong as immoral action. Because those who are orange stand up for what is right.

But how does an OSU student become orange? And will becoming orange benefit you? The addition of OSU’s core values and the two added above all aim to achieve one goal of being orange: to become good people. In order to be orange, students must act with moral judgment. To act with moral judgment, we ought to follow the consequentialist moral theory. To narrow consequentialism down further, we must heed a form of utilitarianism called act-utilitarianism which says that “right actions are those that directly produce the greatest overall good, everyone considered” (Vaughn, 70). Act-utilitarianism is an idea that promotes the greatest good for all. Sometimes, we students face difficult and disquieting situations that call on our moral judgment to guide our imminent action or inaction. It is during these times where we must respond with moral judgment; we must recall act-utilitarianism to ensure our actions produce the most good for our surrounding OSU family. So, abiding by this consequentialist theory (act-utilitarianism) will ensure intended moral judgments.

The idea of utilitarianism begs us to examine the consequences of our possible actions before acting. Act-utilitarianism also forces us to focus on impartiality, where impartiality is justice based on moral, free of bias, objective criteria. These are ideas that most OSU students would want to be known for. Finally, this form of utilitarianism obliges us to act for the well-being of others, as we must consider which actions will produce the greater good for everyone. Being orange means being the best moral person you can be. To be moral, students must practice act-utilitarianism, and logical moral theory must acknowledge the principle of beneficence. And to practice true courage, students must act with moral contemplation. Therefore, to be orange we must all strive to be act-utilitarians so that we may implement courage into the OSU community and the future of our society.