David Gonzalez
Editorial Director
Loretta Rahmani discussed “Quote of the Day…Or How I Sleep at Night,” and preached the values of commitment, integrity, trust and peace, Tuesday in the Executive Dining Room.
Rahmani said she shares quotes and stories because they provide larger life lessons that can be used to back up what she says.
“Integrity, Intelligence and Energy: Hire someone without the first and the other two will kill you,” is a quote that she shares with those around her.
She said that living a life with integrity is essential.
“Because I live my life with integrity, that’s how I sleep at night,” Rahmani said. “Not to say I don’t make mistakes, not to say that I don’t blow it, not to say that I’m not human, but I try to live and breathe this.”
She teaches integrity to every student she talks with.
“For students, integrity has to be at their core to give back to society,” Rahmani said. “Integrity – that’ll guide you.”
Committing fully to anything is another lesson Rahmani has taught throughout her career. She said there are five levels of commitment as follows: “I will think about,” “I will try,” “I will do what I can,” “I will do what is required,” and “I will do whatever it takes,” which is the highest level of commitment.
Rahmani said committing to the fifth level would be good for the world.
Rahmani said truth is the most powerful gift, and cannot be taken for granted and the most powerful thing she can tell someone is “I trust you.”
“You can’t have good, positive conflict unless you have trust,” Rahmani said. “Trust is good so you can have open good healthy conflict, that’s good for any organization. You have to have conflict to learn and grow, but if that trust isn’t there, you can’t do that.”
She shared the idea of creating peace in the present as she shared a quote from Mother Theresa “Peace begins with a smile.”
“We don’t have our past really, and we don’t have our future really,” Rahmani said.
“We just have right now. So what are we going to do right now to make things good, positive peace?”
These are the lessons that Rahmani said were important to live with.
“If folks see that I practice what I preach, then I sleep pretty darn good,” Rahmani said.
Laura Rich, administrative and operations manager of student affairs, said Rahmani has taught her how to value trust, integrity and humor.
“We have a deep and enduring friendship because we share full trust,” Rich said.
“We’ve loved working together for almost 30 years, and I don’t know what I’m going to do without her here.”
Rich said that she will do whatever it takes to continue to work with the lessons that Rahmani has taught her over the years.
“We’ve always worked and lived at our second home, which is La Verne, and I’ll do whatever it takes to continue her legacy alongside the new chief of student affairs,” Rich said.
University Chaplain Zandra Wagoner commended Rahmani for practicing what she preaches.
“Loretta is someone who really does model the values she believes in, it’s palpable and it’s daily,” Wagoner said. “She knows how to lead with love and care and that is something special she brings.”
Shwe U, sophomore business administration major, said that she learned to live in the now and to follow the five levels of commitment.
“I think it’s really important because currently we are always worrying about what’s going to happen next, or what’s going to happen tomorrow, or what we did in the past,” U said. “We should try to live in the now and do our best.”
Rahmani had originally planned to retire in October, but will continue to work until February 2020 while the search for a new student affairs officer continues.
David Gonzalez can be reached at david.gonzalez9@laverne.edu.
David Rafael Gonzalez is a senior journalism major and LV Life editor of the Campus Times. He has been a three-time editor-in-chief and has also served as editorial director, LV Life editor and a staff writer.
