March Madness is here and many of our Charges are cheering on their teams. We want our respective teams to be the best. We want to win it all. Some teams had more success than others, like the UCLA Bruins under Coach John Wooden. He notably said, “
Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” Simply put, who we are matters more than how we appear. This brings me to why I’m writing today.
There is one team that binds us together year-round, Theta Delta Chi. Coach Wooden, like Minerva, asks us to be men of high character and focus on the fundamentals. Wisdom, one of our core values, is knowing the game and how to play it. We have to get the fundamentals down. To Coach Wooden, it started with a how-to on putting on socks. With Minerva, it’s about being present, creating a mutual esteem and dependence. It’s about showing up and giving your best to the team you are a part of, day in and day out.
So, I ask for you to get in the game. I ask for you to pass the ball, helping the Educational Foundation get some assists, so the undergraduates can slam dunk their goals. When we show up in force, we will undoubtedly win.
Right now, we need to grow our bench. Right now, we need to compete against larger teams. Let us be the Cinderella story, outlasting our opponents and winning it all. I want to leave you with two more quotes of wisdom from Coach Wooden: “Today is the only day. Yesterday is gone.”; and “Never cease trying to be the best that you can be.” So, please give today, bringing your gifts to the world in service together, so we can win the “big dance!”
Support the best team ever by clicking here, going to vgdues.org, or by texting VGD22 to 91999.
Brian Bertges, Sigma Triton ’00
Executive Director
Theta Delta Chi
bbertges@tdx.org
1-800-999-1847
