Dear Student Affairs Community, 

We're excited to announce the 2nd Annual Cougar Kindness Exchange! We launched this fun and lighthearted activity last year and received overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants. We're thrilled to continue this tradition of spreading kindness, appreciation, and joy across Student Affairs, and we hope even more colleagues will join in the fun this year! 

This activity is open to all professional staff and faculty within the division. It's a simple way to spread kindness and a reminder that small acts of care go a long way in strengthening our sense of community and camaraderie. 

What is it? 

The Cougar Kindness Exchange is a "secret appreciation" activity designed to help our division build community and share small moments of encouragement during a busy time of year. Each participant will be randomly assigned a colleague in the division to surprise with small, thoughtful gestures. In turn, each participant will receive gestures of appreciation from another colleague! 

How to Sign Up 

Sign up by completing the short Getting to Know You form below. You'll share a few fun details (like your favorite snacks, drinks, or hobbies) to help the colleague secretly appreciating you personalize their gestures. 

How the Exchange Works 

Between November 30 and December 4, you'll deliver two to three small tokens of appreciation to your assigned colleague — such as a favorite treat, a warm drink, or a handwritten note. Please keep all deliveries and notes anonymous until the big reveal! 

Gestures can be purchased or handmade; the goal is simply to brighten someone's day. Please keep total spending to no more than $25 for the entire exchange. 

Then, at the Student Affairs Winter Gathering on Monday, December 7, you'll have the opportunity to reveal yourself to the colleague you've been surprising and celebrate together! 

Key Dates

• Sign-up deadline: Wednesday, November 18 

• Receive your assigned colleague: Monday, November 23 

• Exchange period: November 30–December 4 

• Reveal: Monday, December 7 (at the Student Affairs Winter Gathering) 

Whether you participated last year or are joining for the first time, we hope you'll take part in this fun tradition and help us spread a little Cougar kindness across Student Affairs! 

Warmly, 

Viridiana Diaz, Ed.D. 

Vice President for Student Affairs