Authentic Orange

Submitted by Kelsey McCall

Student Events and Activities center instigated an idea on the Oregon State campus to unite its students and represent each student’s individuality, while creating a place of acceptance for them as well. Oregon State has a diverse population of students, not just with race, ethnicity, or sexual identification. In fact, Oregon State has a diverse level of involvement from students as well as a variety of student voices on campus. The slogan, “Be Beaver Bold” was originally created in hopes for getting all of these different students to be the best versions of themselves and to accept their peers the way they are as well.

I would argue the Be Beaver Bold slogan endorses being authentic to oneself. That is to say, Be Beaver Bold endorses the idea of acting as yourself and to be no one but your true self. In this, the idea of acceptance is created based on the notion that if everyone is acting as the truest version of themselves, they will seek acceptance in their truest form. If everyone is seeking acceptance in their truest form, we will all grow to accept the truest form of one another and, in turn, Oregon State community will grow. Anyone can be Beaver Bold by acting upon the idea of being the most authentic version of themselves. Students are not fully living and, in fact, acting in bad faith, if they are not being themselves and living authentically (Lecture, 5/26/25).

Becoming an individual in a community of over twenty five thousand students proves to be difficult. Clubs and groups help resolve this sense of not belonging for some, but for others it makes them feel more isolated than before. For many it is unnerving to fall into the herd like mentality of simply going to class every day, eating, doing homework, going to sleep and doing it all again the next day. They wish to be different and defy the herd-like mentality. “Morality is herd instinct in the individual” (Nietzsche, The Gay Science, pg. 116). The moral of the Be Beaver Bold campaign is to give students an outlet to channel the change they want to see at Oregon State into a reality and in turn promote them to act in good faith.

Students on a day to day basis act in bad faith, or in other words they are not living as the truest version of themselves, and are instead acting as something they are not (lecture, 5/28/2015). A student on Oregon State’s campus may find themselves forced to assume the roles and responsibilities of a full time student and they talk to teachers and their peers as if they are only a student. Any given student is not, in fact, just a student, and by assuming the role of only being a student in that moment, they are denying their transcendence by ignoring all that they are aside from their student role.

Perhaps in being a student, one will simultaneously deny their facticity, by ignoring their previous feelings and pretending they don’t exist as they become uncertain of what they seek (lecture, 5/28/2015). This could be shown in the example of a student living in a residence hall being peer pressured to drink alcohol. The student is denying their facticity by saying yes to the pressure when they originally didn’t intend to partake in those activities, but ignored their original feelings because of the events that transpired (lecture, 5/28/2015).

The idea of being the best version of yourself stems from the notion of being bold and standing out as who you are, whether that means throwing on an orange shirt to represent Beaver Nation, or putting on your best attitude in hopes to brighten someone’s day. As displayed in class, the truest form of oneself is quirky, unique, and different from student to student, but the acceptance of their truest form is what truly counts towards developing the authenticity of the Be Beaver Bold campaign and living “Authentically Orange”.

Submitted by Kassie Morrison

To be authentic is the ability to live out your own life, to embrace yourself, your abilities, your passions, and strive to be your truest self no matter the obstacles you may face in life. To be authentically orange means to apply this authenticity to your life amidst the Oregon State beaver community, taking pride in who you are and the environment you are helping to create.

This authenticity is of utmost importance as it shapes your individuality and entire means of existence. As noted by Simone de Beauvoir in 1947 in Ethics of Ambiguity, this authentic stance on ethics is individualistic as it carves out your individual’s “absolute value…[and] the power of laying the foundations of [your] own existence” (Beauvoir). The “Orange” aspect of being authentic is also of significance as someone’s authenticity isn’t just shaped by their true individuality, but how they can apply that truth to their surroundings. This application includes humanism towards all beings, holistic embodiment within a community, and pure compassion.

As we journey through our years at Oregon State University we can practice these forms of Orange Authenticity among friends and classmates, group project members, the individuals we pass in the MU quad, and in every passing moment of our college careers to the ends of our existence. Humanism is a solid note on how to practice authenticity, in his piece Black Skin, White Masks, Frantz Fanon explains how “Man is a Yes: Yes to life, Yes to love, and Yes to generosity”  while “Man is also a No: No to scorn of man. No to degradation of man. No to exploitation of man” (lecture 5/19). So, humanism celebrates the relationship we have with one another and the ways we can express that bond, while also noting that dehumanization is what tears that relationship apart. This connection among people is also a great sustainable source of happiness as it graces us with a sense of worthiness, love and belonging, and moments of vulnerability to gain trust in others (lecture 5/28). We are all given the opportunity to express this compassion and authenticity in our lives, we just have to stand up and take responsibility for being a part of the society we create and we will know what it means to lead authentic lives.

But the ability to stand up may be the hardest part of living a complete and authentic life, as there may be a number of obstacles that need to be challenged. While I’m sure the majority of people believe they are living in good faith, accepting and embracing your transcendence and facticity (lecture 5/26), I think there is always room for improvement. For one, facing obstacles head on and deciding that they do not have control over who you are. Some of these obstacles may include; not living out who you are in entirety for fear of being judged by others and society’s opinions, this sort of mentality was noted by Nietzche as “the heard”, having to look or act a specific way to fall in line with the majority of a society (lecture 5/28). Other obstacles may include not putting in the effort to go out of your way to express compassion towards others, smiling or saying hello when passing someone on the street in order to acknowledge someone’s existence.

If we were all to live full authentic lives by demonstrating pride in our individuality as well as the community we assist in creating, we would all be a part of living authentically orange lives.