An SJU alumni view: strive to be the best
This is a letter to the editor from Thom “Woody” Woodard, SJU Class of 1970.
St. John’s University students need to be held accountable for their words and actions.
That’s what I tell Johnnie baseball players when they utter an F-bomb audible in the stands or fail to sprint to first base where their lack of effort is visible to every fan. Those offenses irk me.
I and all SJU alumni were embarrassed and disappointed when the alleged campus sex competition made the newspapers. It’s reaffirming today that the Catholic and Benedictine values held dear at the College of St. Benedict and SJU were universally supported in the colleges’ months-long review of the allegations and campus culture.
The Hon. H.C. Waite, among St. John’s first graduates, gave us the words to live by in his commencement address of 1882.
All Johnnies particularly need to heed his directive published in a SJU history covering 1857-1907.
“Let your attendance here never bring reproach upon the institution,” he told the graduates. “Look back to her [SJU] as a foster mother and extend to her that consideration she has so bountifully extended to you. Protect the reputation of the institution you have assisted in making and when you go hence, go forth bravely, boldly and wisely to your tasks.”
I subtly echoed his caution with the SJU number one logo that I designed 100-plus years later. My message was never loud enough or clear enough. Yes, Johnnie teams want to be number one, want to be the best. I was suggesting something more essential: strive to be number one in all we do, in the classroom and in athletics. Be the best son, best husband, best father. Be the best employer, employee, citizen.
Steps like re-establishing the Men’s Development Institute outlined in the campus review will help us be the best as we “show the world what SJU can do” (from the Johnnie Fight Song).