Social capital is about relationships that are often based on earned or inherited kernels of commonality. Social capital raises the ethical question of when relationships should be allowed to influence outcomes. The essential theory underlying the social capital paradigm is that relationships of sympathy or social capital influence almost every interpersonal transaction. Since interpersonal transactions occur in many settings, the study of social capital is multi-disciplinary and interested in such diverse topics as charitable giving, leadership development, educational achievements, migration patterns, formation of cooperatives, how people care for the environment, diffusion of technology, advertising, economic development, family integrity, flow of legal, recreational, and health services, management of organizations, community development, animal health, passage of legislation, and the creation of civil society. Social capital is relevant to the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) because it represents an important resource that must be studied and managed to achieve CANR's mission.