Yesterday's class....

I just wanted to say how impressed I was by all of you for the discussion yesterday.... I was happy to see everyone participate because I think it is so important for all of us to talk about our values, our Ritual, and most important- the lifelong oath we all took once upon a time. I hope you all were left with some things to think about in terms of your oath and what that means in terms of lifestyle and accountability.

We are unique in that we are the only organization that takes a lifelong oath. The public, the media, our families, or friends may not know what our oath entails- but they know we agreed to something that is values-based rooted in history and tradition. That being said, it is no wonder that people expect us to act in certain ways- we agreed to something special that very few people have the opportunity to do. We talked about the chess club and the band- they don't make the front page because they get done what we expect them to do.... We make the front page because aren't doing what we promised. This is not a problem unique to our community- it happens nationally. What are we going to do about it? What is our role in holding others accountable?

We have talked about relevance and making others realize why our presence on campus is needed and why it matters- where do we start? I think our lack of congruence between what we say we are going to do and what we actually do is part of this issue.... I challenge all of you to keep this is mind and start thinking about the big picture.

In 5 days we will be on our way to St. Louis, please keep our discussion from yesterday in mind as you spend the weekend discussing leadership and values. Great conversation yesterday, I can't wait to see how we use our new ideas....