SCHOLARSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT KEYNOTE (CONT.)

happened to me when I went to San Francisco, several years ago. I reconnected with a couple of guys. I hadn’t seen him in, I think 12 years, and literally, it was one text and I was there for one night. And he said, I’m going to come and we’ll go hang out. And then there’s times, you know, maybe a parent passes away. I was in Pittsburgh two weeks ago; a fraternity brother’s, mother passed away and 15 guys flew into Pittsburgh, and were there lined up at the wake. Very, very powerful.

And then I’ve had to experience this too many times already, even at my age, but there’s going to be tragedy or there’s going to be sickness and you can count on brothers holding their hands as people pass on. Welcome brothers is a song I know we’ve sung probably 25,000 times but there’s a line in it that if you if you notice a pattern and in most of those Psi U songs there’s kind of an early, middle, and end of life kind of process in there. Not to go too dark, but

CHARLES M. HALL

Nu Alpha ‘71 (Washington & Lee)

closely with the Gamma Tau chapter. He served as Executive Council President in the mid 1990’s and was instrumental in securing the Indianapolis property.

To honor and build a living legacy to him, several brothers have come together to initiate a campaign to name a stipend award in his honor. This honor to Chuck will be one of the only named awards of its type, and a tribute to everyone whose life has been enhanced by his great generosity and energy. The Foundation seeks to raise $50,000 in gifts and pledges, which will provide the first award in the next scholarship cycle ending in March of 2023. Gifts to this restricted fund are tax-deductible to the fullest extent the law and will count towards lifetime giving towards the Foundation.

To date the fund has secured approximately 60% of the goal with various efforts underway to continue to achieve our goal by June 30th. Brother Hall, in full support of this effort, will be on hand to present the first recipient with their stipend at the 179th Psi Upsilon Convention in July. Please contact Clanton Johnson to make a pledge or outright gift to this Fund.

because this is kind of a recent thing for me, you know, there’s a line that “May our last, faint faltering breath, ‘ere tis hushed in silent death / breath the sweetest of all words /Psi Up-si-lon” . And it’s an extremely powerful sentence. Having recently lost a fraternity brother to cancer you realize that this is really a forever bond in every meaning of the word forever. So what does Psi U mean, to me? To me it’s the warm blanket of confidence I sleep under kind of knowing I have that diverse set of extremely loyal friends who all share a remarkable bond. It’s ultimately about being a good person. And, you know, I’ve told this story before many times with others, but when my son was very young, I tucked him in at night. And I’d say “Be a good man.” And, you know, he had no idea. He kind of just would hear it every night, night over night…he had no idea [about] the depth of that single phrase or it’s reality, for me, its roots in Psi U. But he didn’t need to.

I got to expand on it as he got a little bit older, and I’d say, you know, it’s not about being good, man. It’s not being perfect. It’s not about doing good deeds all day, it’s not about being good for that matter. It’s about doing the right thing when no one’s looking, which is the definition of character. It’s about your character, it’s admitting you’ve made a mistake, and then fixing it, it’s about having fun while still being respectful. It’s about working hard and giving it your all…it’s about being loyal to a fault. It’s about knowing when you need help, and for helping others. For me, that’s Psi U.

So congratulations, each of you, for holding up your hand. It’s kind of a big deal. You’ve earned it. You should be very proud. And, and congratulations. And, you know, as I mentioned, and you know, if there’s anyone that wants to reach out, if you’re ever in Boston, please reach out. I’d love to share a beer, swap some stories, and go up from there. So thank you, everybody. Appreciate your time.