What would happen if compassion and goodwill toward all became daily habits? At a time in the nation’s history when conflict and incivility seem to be omnipresent, the University of Utah is pledging its support to a large-scale effort to find the answers.

On April 11, 2025, the U hosted the 2025 Kindness Summit to celebrate the work of local change-makers whose actions embody the spirit of what it means to be good to one another.

Established by the Semnani Family Foundation, the One Kind Act a Day initiative espouses that simple gestures of generosity and benevolence between individuals can be powerful expressions of humanity that can make the world a better place for everyone. The event was attended by several hundred people, including numerous community and state leaders.

Addressing the standing room-only audience in the Tower at Rice-Eccles Stadium, U President Taylor Randall noted that higher ed institutions are meant to be fertile ground for developing minds, as well as prime examples of how to remain considerate and courteous even when opinions are strongly divided.

“Universities have to be places where we learn to get along. They have to be blueprints for a good society,” Randall told the audience. “There will be protests and there will be arguments. What matters most is what happens after those arguments and protests. How do we reconcile with each other? And how do we create a good and just society?”

Among the other featured speakers at the daylong event was current University Impact Scholar Eboo Patel, founder of Interfaith America. He reminded the people in attendance who call the Beehive State home that it has a unique quality that makes it a welcoming place to visit.

“You have something special in the state of Utah. This belief in kindness is part of it. But you should strengthen it, you should cherish it and you should share it,” he said. “The manner in which you all welcome people from different identities, and you nurture respect for those identities. You build relationships. You seek to cooperate. That’s powerful. That’s American pluralism, and we need more of it. You all, right now, are exemplifying that.”

Patel said the effort to spread kindness is something that can create the kind of society where everyone can feel acknowledged and appreciated.