This blog was written by T.J. Sullivan and I am re-posting it as it represents exactly what I believe about commitment to a fraternity and my commitment to my fraternity.

You are always wearing your letters

You’re interested in joining our fraternity? We’d love to have you. You’re the type of person we look for: committed, enthusiastic, a leader. We think you’ll do great things here, and we hope that we’ll open some doors for you. You will make lifelong friendships, and hopefully, you’ll be the type of person whose positive impact will be felt here for many years.

This is the start of something really cool.

We know you have your reasons for joining, and we also know that the reasons you’ll stay will be entirely different. Trust us on that one. People tend to join for the image, the props, and the social stuff. They stay around for the friendships and because they find a place where they can impact the lives of others. It’s a family. We know this. Soon, you will, too.

Soon, these letters will be yours. But, there’s one lesson that we need to impress upon you before you sign your name on the dotted line, pay that first fee, and get that first t-shirt. It’s the single most important thing we’re going to ask of you, so you need to listen and understand it, now, before you say “yes.”

It’s the one most important thing that any fraternity or sorority can impress upon its new members. It’s the one lesson that every group must impress upon its newest members. Truly, our survival as an organization on this campus, and nationwide, depends on you understanding this one simple lesson and taking it to heart.

It’s more important than our history, our traditions, our structure, or our rules. Because, if you don’t understand this most fundamental lesson, then none of the other stuff will matter. If you don’t get this one “golden rule of fraternity,” then your son or daughter won’t have this kind of organization to join someday, and all of this will just be a fuzzy memory.

Here it is. Ready?

From the moment you say yes to this organization, you are always wearing your letters.

I’m going to repeat it.

From the moment you say yes to this organization, you are always wearing your letters.

We’re not talking about t-shirts, or sweatshirts, or hats made in the colors of the group. We’re not talking about a tattoo on your ankle, some party favor, or a badge you wear on your dress shirt.

What we mean is that when you say yes to lifetime membership in this group, everything you say, do and represent from that moment forward is a direct reflection on this group, your brothers, and the thousands of members who have come before you. Everything you put out to the world is a direct reflection of this fraternity. Every decision, every achievement, every mistake you make happens to all of us from this point forward.

When you go to the grocery store, you represent us. If you fall asleep in class or earn a weak grade, you represent us. When you drive down the road and slow down so a pedestrian can cross the street, you represent us.

When you turn 21 and hit the town, you represent us. When you become a leader of another campus organization, you represent us. When you insult someone or talk badly about another fraternity, you represent us. When you break up with someone and make decisions about how you behave during that difficult time, you represent us. When you go on Spring Break, you represent us.

When you go home and sit at your mother’s dining room table, you represent us. When you get a job and go to work for a company or organization, you represent us. When you commit your life to that special person, someday, you represent us.

You are always wearing your letters.

From this day forward, always. Every day, in every situation. They never come off.

As surely as if you tattooed these letters on your forehead. It doesn’t matter if you’re wearing a jersey with our name on it, or a business suit at an interview. You have to assume that every person you meet will form a permanent opinion about fraternities – good or bad – based on how you interact with them. Every good thing you do builds us up. Every dumb thing you do tears us down.

We live in a time when the actions of one man or one woman can kill a group like ours. One person who acts in a way that is inconsistent with our shared values can end a hundred years of tradition and pride. One choice you make on a Friday night can take away everything that generations of men have worked to build.

All the stuff you see that belongs to us can be boxed up or thrown out, because of the choices you make.

If this seems a little intense, that’s good. Because it’s serious. If it sounds like too much responsibility, or if you don’t think you can behave in a way that reflects well on us at all times, then walk away now. Do us the favor. We won’t think less of you. In fact, we’ll thank you. This sort of commitment isn’t for everybody.

But, don’t say yes unless you understand.

We’re not asking you to give up anything. We aren’t asking you to become something you aren’t. We’re asking you to become something more. We’re inviting you to become part of a group of men who make a promise to take care of each other, every day. We’re asking you to become the very best version of you that you can be.

We’re asking you to take a leap of maturity and to go to that place where you’re the same, honorable, dignified person on Saturday night as you are on Tuesday morning.

It’s a big deal, and not everyone can do it. Forget everything you’ve heard up to this point. Forget how much you might desire this, or how much we might want to bring you into the group. Just clear your mind and ask yourself one question.

Are you ready to never take them off?

Because when you say yes, you’re not just putting letters on a sweatshirt. You’re putting them in your heart. You’re forever stamping your identity with them. Everything you are, from this point on, becomes who we are.

You will make mistakes, and brothers will remind you of your commitment. There will be times where you will see other brothers forgetting their promise, and you’ll need to remind them. That’s part of this whole “fraternity” thing. We work together to make ourselves better men who stand for something. We carry each other. We matter to one another.

If we’re doing fraternity right, then we’ll make you a better man. If you’re doing everything right, then you will make us a better organization. So, please think about it. Take it seriously. Because if you say yes, these letters belong to you as surely as they belonged to our founders. If you say yes, these letters become your responsibility forever.

That’s the promise.

Another Garrido Story: Temper, Temper

So I thought I would share a couple Augie Garrido stories just for fun.  For those that don't know Augie, he is the winning-est college of all time.  He has won over 1500 games in his life and 5 national collegiate baseball championships.  And for about 3 years he was  the coach at the University of Illinois.  I was hired as Augie's Director of Baseball operations and basically my job was to keep him out of trouble.  And trust me, that was a challenge.  In the meantime I helped set up the marketing plan, summer camps and game day experiences, the sound, the entertainment and giveaways in the stands, and just plain worked at making the games fun to come to.

In Augie's first year at Illinois he inherited a bunch of "hard working" Chicago kids.  They all were great student-athletes but not necessarily the greatest baseball players.  A new stadium was built upon Augie's arrival and that along with just the drive Augie has as a coach had propelled them to a great record going into the Big Ten season.  The team was about 15-3 or so playing Minnesota in a 4 game home series.  Augie gathered them all in the clubhouse before the game and gave one of the most inspiring pregame talks I have every heard.  I call it the "I am a champion" speech.  For 20 minutes Garrido talked about the game being played one pitch, one out, one inning at a time and the key to great teams was winning each increment of the game.  "Battle for every pitch, every out and every inning.  Win every inning and you will win the game." But to do that Augie said you have to believe you are the best man in that spot.  "Say to yourself 1000 times a game, I am a champion, I am a champion... and if you say it enough you will believe it and your actions will follow what you believe...."   A great lesson in life, to break tough situations down to their most basic elements and be successful in each little piece.  

I wish I would have recorded this speech, it was truly one of the greatest I ever heard.  However...we lost all four games of the series and slid back in the conference standings never to recover that season.  But, I'll never forget the speech.  Sometimes when I talk to Augie I'll joke, "have you tried the I am a Champion speech on the team?"  :)

Another of my favorite Augie moments happened at a NCAA regional championship.  Now for as intense as Augie was in the regular season using every moment possible as a "teaching moment", Augie was very laid back in the post season.  Perhaps this is the secret to his success.  He explained to me once that in the regular season he needed to "get their attention."  The players were thinking about going out at night, or their girlfriends or a test they had the next day, and he needed to get on them so they refocused on the game and on the moment.  But in the post season, Augie said "I need to get them to relax."  He said, "they all want to win the ring or the trophy and I need them to relax so they play better."  So he was laid back, that is, except at the NCCA at Mississippi State in 1990.  

We were leading MSU in the mid innings despite the fact we weren't getting all the calls.  A win would put us in the regional championship game, one win there and we go to the College World Series. A loss would send us to the loser's bracket where we would need to win three in a row to go to Omaha.  Augie had a dialog going with the home plate umpire and finally he jumped out of the dugout and gave the umpire his best Earl Weaver imitation.  He kicked dirt on him, yelled at him and gave him "his opinion" of his work.  He grabbed a pair of sunglasses off his head, and not just any pair, but a $300 pair he got the week before, threw them on the ground and stomped them.  Then he stopped, looked at the glasses, picked them up and walked back to the dugout.  

He bee-lined to me, and said very discretely, "Todd, if you ever let me wear a pair of $300 sunglasses when I go to yell at an ump you're fired."  He smiled and we both got a good chuckle out of that.  The bad news was in the 8th inning, still up 3-2 over MSU we got another bad call on a balls and strike.  A strike would have ended the inning.  Two pitches later the batter hit a home run and MSU took the lead 4-3.  We lost and didn't win the next game either.  Augie called this one of the singular most disappointing calls in his life in a story written several years later.  I know he feels as I do that getting out of the inning would have sent us to the College World Series.  And that would have been huge for a program like Illinois.

I have many Augie stories, but these are two I share for now.  In the locker rooms he has coached at Garrido puts up a sign that says, "It's amazing what can be accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit."  That is just one of those things I cherish in my friendship with Coach Garrido.