In January this year, I started a communications job at Northern Arizona University.

It’s not an institution many people know about, especially compared to the top-ranked school I came from. Nestled in the middle of a ponderosa pine forest at 7,000 feet, miles away from the state’s signature cactuses and 110-degree temperatures, NAU is considered the redheaded stepchild of Arizona public universities. It stands in the shadow of U of A, the land grant institution with a $1.2 billion endowment, and ASU, one of the largest universities in the country.

Suffice it to say, the oft-forgotten NAU isn’t exactly netting breathless, constant media coverage like a Harvard or a Stanford. But in my opinion, NAU’s leaders are doing everything right, and journalists should pay attention.

The phrase “relentless welcome,” coined by university president José Luis Cruz Rivera, fuels everything NAU does. The result is a university system full of the most humble, empathetic and hard-working people you’ll ever meet.

Here’s an example of relentless welcome in action: When Cruz Rivera first landed in Flagstaff a few years ago, he realized that while Arizona high schools require students to take just 14 core courses to graduate, NAU and other state public universities required 16 core courses, barring some high school grads from even applying. Cruz Rivera didn’t hesitate to lower the requirement to 14 courses, giving all Arizona high schoolers a shot at a four-year degree. The president wasn’t concerned about how the decision could tank NAU’s national rankings. For him, expanding access was more important than stats or prestige. To borrow a Gen Z phrase, Harvard could never.

Relentless welcome doesn’t just come from the top of the chain. It’s everywhere. When first-generation college students—40% of NAU’s undergrad population—arrive on campus, they’re greeted by a network of generous support staff, patient faculty members and kind fellow students who will have their back until graduation day. Many of these mentors know exactly what students need because they were once in the same position. They understand what it feels like to arrive in Flagstaff fresh off the reservation and unsure how to navigate classes and homework, or straight from a Spanish-speaking household in the Valley and fretting about how they’d buy textbooks and food.

The NAU community doesn’t reserve its relentless welcome just for students. Like a cozy Lumberjack flannel, the relentless welcome has enveloped me, too. People here have been patient as I’ve attempted to learn the institution’s many traditions, quirks and acronyms. They’ve asked me about my life and career, and they’ve shared personal stories far more inspiring than mine. They’ve even laughed at my dad jokes.

They say it feels good to do good, and I think that’s why it’s so easy to embrace NAU’s culture of relentless welcome. This university is doing the most good a university possibly could do. It’s fighting for first-generation, Indigenous and Latine students, building more pathways to good careers and growing academic programs that will strengthen Arizona’s health and economy.

Family and friends have asked: How did it feel to transition to NAU from one of the most prestigious corners of the universe? I always answer: Absolutely fabulous.