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When I came to the Alumni Association four years ago, one of the
motivating factors for me in taking this job was the fact that
it would give me chance to pay forward for future generations of
Buckeyes.
As many of you may know, the concept of paying forward has been
one of the bedrock principles that I’ve used in my life. My
college football coach Woody Hayes was a firm believer in this
idea and it was something I heard him preach and watched him
practice. Coach Hayes got the idea of paying forward from Ralph
Waldo Emerson’s essay on Compensation. Emerson wrote, “You can
pay back only seldom. . . . You can always pay forward and you
must pay line for line, deed for deed, and cent for cent.”
These words have always been impactful for me, particularly
because I can look back at my life and recognize that any
accomplishment I achieved came in part because of the efforts of
others. I consider myself an example of how paying forward can
help advance a life.
This is why so many of our efforts at the Alumni Association are
devoted to paying forward. It is why we decided to support the
Recovery School District in New Orleans, an effort that to date
has raised nearly $70,000 for kids in need. It is why we decided
to make our Alumni Cup golf outing benefit our scholarship
endowment, an idea that has led to more than $50,000 in
scholarship funds being raised. And it is why I take tremendous
pride in the fact that our clubs and societies raise more than
$400,000 in scholarship funds each year.
Everywhere you look, you can find ways that the Association, our
members, and our constituent groups are paying forward. You
probably don’t have to think very hard to come up with ways that
your group is helping to do the same. That makes me
extraordinarily proud.
The idea of paying forward is also one that is clearly on the
mind of Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee. I had to smile when
I saw his list of six strategic goals and got to goal No. 5,
which is “Commit to our Communities.” President Gee recognizes
that Ohio State and its alumni do not exist in a vacuum. We are
all part of a broader community and being active in these
communities is so very important.
This is the type of work that you and your group are doing on a
regular basis. You’ve taken a leadership role, which is
something that we take note of here at Longaberger Alumni House.
So keep the faith, keep up the good work, and let’s keep paying
forward to ensure that others will enjoy a bright future.
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