When I
was a student at Union, three people in particular helped me to change the way
I saw the world: Clare Graves, my psychology professor; Bill Huntley, the dean
(back then there was only one dean); and Bill Ketz, coordinator of student
activities.
Adding
to the richness and pleasure of those four years were roommates, fraternity
brothers, and the people I worked with on The Idol, WRUC, and the Student
Council. There were also the all-night bull-sessions (and still going to class
next morning, alert and wide-eyed) and the joke in the Concordiensis about the
food served by Dining Room Manager Bill South: “The garbage truck is
here, Mr. South.” – “Good! Tell them I'll take six barrels.”
I'm
sure there are people who touched you in some way when you were at Union.
And
there was Union itself – serene, stately, but also exciting and energizing – sending
me out into the world more assured and more purposeful than when I had come in.
Clare
Graves, Bill Huntley, and Bill Ketz have passed on, and I can't tell them how
valuable were the gifts they gave me. But I have found a way to pay them back,
and to pay back my classmates, and Union.
The
current expression for that way became the title of a good movie that came out
last October. “Pay it Forward,” starring Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt, makes the
point much better than I can hope to make it in these remarks to you, but let
me try.
To me,
paying it forward means supporting the Clare Graveses, Bill Huntleys, and
Bill Ketzs at Union today. It means supporting the students here now, and
helping them awaken to their potential, as I awakened to mine. It means helping
a young man or woman, who may not have the resources, get the same great
education and experiences I got.
The
amount of the tuition check I wrote to Don Holmes, college bursar, would have
had to be twenty percent larger if not for the fact that some alumnus, back in
1953, was also writing a check – to the Annual Fund. That alumnus is likely
gone, but I don't want to break the chain, so I'll take his place and write a
check to the Annual Fund, to help keep down the cost of tuition to current
students.
Lest
you think I'm being altruistic, let me confess that I've discovered a great
satisfaction and fulfillment from paying it forward, and if you have supported
the Annual Fund, I'll bet you've experienced that feeling, too. If you're not
yet a supporter, it is not too late. I hope you'll join me, and your
classmates, so you can get that same satisfaction and fulfillment.
You may
have noticed the banner we are now using at the top of Annual Fund letters we
send you:
The
Purpose of the Annual Fund
To provide Union with the financial resources needed
to give students the knowledge, skills and values that will help them develop
to their fullest, and make a positive contribution to the world.
Paying
it forward not only helps me to say “thank you” to Dr. Graves, Dean Huntley,
and Bill Ketz, it also helps me to make a positive contribution to the world.
John
Moses '53
Annual
Fund National Chair