ERIN MCDERMOTT: Welcome to the fifth Aims
of Athletics Address.
It's a great day to be a Maroon.
It is my pleasure to introduce President Zimmer,
the 13th University of Chicago president,
serving now in his 13th year as president,
a significant and admirable tenure.
The university has flourished throughout his presidency.
And it is attributable to his vision.
We talk about leadership and culture
frequently in athletics.
At the university, there is no more important or influential
leader than President Zimmer.
Although, an undergraduate at Brandeis,
a PhD scholar of mathematics at Harvard,
and a former provost at Brown, I think
that after several years on the U Chicago faculty,
holding administrative leadership positions,
and serving as president since 2006,
it is fair to say that President Zimmer is a proud Maroon.
It is a privilege to have him with us tonight.
He has an event downtown and he must leave soon.
So I'm grateful that he carved this time out for us.
Please welcome President Zimmer.
ROBERT ZIMMER: Let me begin first
by congratulating everybody.
I know there's been a lot of competitive success
by this group--
many of you last year and already this year.
And so congratulations to you as a collective,
not just the students, but the whole athletics coaching team
and an administrative staff.
Now beyond the competitive success,
there's another type of success that you demonstrate
all the time, which in many ways, at least,
from my point of view, is at least important.
And that is when you put on a uniform that says University
of Chicago on it, you are representing the university
to others.
And the entire way you approach that has been extraordinarily
admirable-- one of an enormous commitment, enormous integrity,
a great deal of self-discipline necessary
to achieve what you've done.
And I think you should--
I hope you do as well-- feel proud and gratified
at your representation of the university in that way.
Our university gets put forward in many ways by many people
under various circumstances, but that act
that you do every time you compete
in a competitive way wearing University of Chicago
paraphernalia and representing University of Chicago
is a very important thing.
And I know that you do an outstanding job of that.
And I hope you take that as a great success as well.
So people often ask me about athletics
at the University of Chicago.
They say, well, you're a notoriously serious
intellectual environment, where everybody
has to work incredibly hard.
How do you think about athletics inside that framework?
My response is quite consistent, which as I say that I think
it's enormously important and valuable thing.
And it's an enormously important complement
to the academic exercises and the academic part
of one's education.
Because there are things you learn
being in an athletics environment
that you honestly don't learn all that well being in a purely
academic environment.
And one of the crucial things about that, of course,
is the notion of team, which means
that you are dependent on other people for your success.
And they are dependent on you for their success.
And as much as one has an academic environment that's
deeply engaged with an enormous amount of discourse,
discussion, argument, the nature of the mutual dependency
and success of the group, rather than
purely success of individual, doesn't really get reproduced.
And you learn an enormous amount from that environment.
You learn things that are actually
critical for how it is one will eventually
work in the world, how it is one thinks about what
it means to achieve something.
And I think importantly, it also is
very expanding for oneself as an individual
in thinking about how you function as part of a team.
And I'm going to give you a slightly peculiar analogy,
which is as a mathematics professor, which
I did for a long time, you spend an enormous amount of time
fundamentally working alone.
Of course, you talk to other people.
You teach students and so on and so forth.
But when you're writing mathematics research papers,
you're not really part of a team.
You're sitting in a room all by yourself with dim lights,
and a pad, and a pen.
And you do this for hour after hour.
On the other hand, when you're president
of the University of Chicago, you
realize you can't get anything at all
done without being part of a functioning team that's
actually dependent on each other.
So actually the personal experience
I've had just in my own professional life
has forced me to become a bit of an athlete
in the sense of functioning very clearly in the way of the team.
Now, of course, I was too old to be a real athlete.
So I had to become president to the university instead.
But in any case, I do want to say how much I appreciate all
the commitment that you've demonstrated,
all the self-discipline you've demonstrated,
how much you're learning from this experience, what it truly
teaches you about yourself, and very importantly, thank you
for representing the University of Chicago so well.
So thanks a lot, and good evening.
ERIN MCDERMOTT: I want to thank a couple of people
before we get on with our program.
Michelle Rasmussen is here with us.
She is the dean of students in the university.
And she is the leader for campus and student life.
So she is the person that we report into and allows
us to do all the good work that we
have been able to do these last few years
that Michelle has been our leader.
And she spent time to be here tonight with you.
We also have other people across campus, mostly fans of Derrick,
I think, who wanted to join us here tonight--
and I think Derrick's family as well.
So it's always great when other people around campus
join for our activities.
This event has become our opportunity
to gather as a Maroon community and honor the traditions
and values of athletics at the University of Chicago.
I believe it is important for you
to learn that you share a connection with the Maroons
who came before you.
You will forever be part of something
greater than yourselves, your teams, your university,
and our Maroon family.
There are two pillars that formed our foundation
at the turn of the century in the 20th century.
Amos Alonzo Stag is a name that you hear often.
He is a legendary figure in the sport of football
and was the athletic director for 40 years.
Our philosophy and value systems still
align with what he so wisely stated.
"Winning isn't worthwhile, unless one has something finer
and nobler behind it."
And Gertrude Dudley was the first person
to oversee women's physical culture, as it was called then.
Her belief that athletics develop selflessness, honor,
fairness, courage, and a sense of responsibility,
likewise her attributes, we believe result
from your experiences today.
We are known a lot for our past.
A founding member of the Big 10 conference, early participation
by women in sports, the original Wishbone Shaped Sea
and Monsters of the Midway--
later taken up by the Bears--
the first Heisman Trophy winner in 1935 with Jay Berwanger
followed by the elimination of football in 1939.
Yet, they always seem to omit the return of football in 1969.
In fact, we are in our 50th season currently of modern era
football.
As proud as we are of this history, as compelling as it
is, what I am most proud of is our story doesn't end there.
It actually gets better.
We are one of the best Division III programs in the country.
You are part of building a modern legacy.
And you are the model for being collegiate student
athletes striving for the best in everything you do--
thriving as teammates and competition
while being leaders on campus and pursuing
your intellectual curiosities to learn and grow.
Congratulations on being the 12th
ranked Division III program last year
based on your individual and team successes.
35 of you were named all Americans, 36 all region,
three were UAA top performers, and 6 were
conference rookies of the year.
Congratulations to our current top 20 nationally
ranked fall teams.
Men's and women's cross-country also just had strong
performances in the UAA championship--
men's and women's soccer and volleyball.
Congratulations to football for a huge homecoming
win over Ripon on Saturday.
And welcome women's lacrosse.
We look forward to watching you represent us this spring.
You can clap for yourself.
And please know that all of you, no matter your role
or best performance, you are part of making us better.
Whether it's your ability, your leadership, your character,
your attitude, your work ethic, or a combination,
you make us better and part of our success.
Our Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday
reminded us that none of us are alone in victory or defeat.
We all need help.
Oftentimes, we are the help and not the hero.
And there is honor in both.
And finally, I wanted to mention that last night,
I attended the NCAA woman of the year banquet,
because class of 2018, track and field member, Ade Ayoola,
was honored as one of nine finalists among 30 in the room
and after 581 women were nominated across all divisions.
You can go ahead and clap.
Ade wasn't the so-called winner last night,
but there are no losers in this competition.
Ade beamed proudly all night as a youth Chicago Division III
representative.
She embodies all that we value.
She describes herself as a servant leader
and is studying medicine at Stanford
with ambitions of helping others and particularly,
those in less advantaged communities across the globe.
She is kind.
And she is humble, while also being fierce and bold.
So Maroons be good teammates.
Be bold.
Be fearless.
And most of all, be proud Maroons.
Be very, very proud.
Ma what?
AUDIENCE: Maroons.
ERIN MCDERMOTT: Ma what?
AUDIENCE: Maroons.
ERIN MCDERMOTT: Ma what?
Come on.
I know some of you may not like that cheer,
but I have to tell you that Coach [INAUDIBLE]
found an old song book that has some
of those Chicago cheers in it.
So just to give you a sense of--
I think that one's not so bad.
There's one that's just raw, varsity raw.
Would you rather me go to that one?
I don't think so.
There's a hello, bello, Chicago, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah,
rah, rah.
Chicago yay.
So I'm sticking with Ma what.
I'm sorry.
It's just the thing.
And also, before I introduce our next speaker,
I want to thank all of you who thanked me
for your new Adidas team gear.
I've received many thank you's like this
and signed by you, written by you, and just
an amazing feeling to feel like something pretty small.
But we all know very important has such an impact.
So thank you for showing your gratitude.
Certainly, it was the right thing, at least,
we could do to help your experience.
So I now need to introduce, Raja Bhattar, relatively new.
Raja's assistant provost and executive director
of the Center for Identity and Inclusion.
Raja's undergraduate work was in psychology
at Boston University.
Hey, what about those Red Sox?
Yeah, where are my Boston people?
Come on.
They then completed masters and doctoral work
at the University of Vermont and UCLA.
And before U Chicago, Raja spent time
at the University of the Redlands
and most recently joined us from UCLA.
I invited Roger to share their vision for the center identity
inclusion and the work they approach
or prioritizing for this year.
So please welcome Raja Bhattar.
RAJA BHATTAR: Good evening.
How's everyone doing?
Awesome.
Thank you, Erin, really appreciate it.
I went in last night feeling like I couldn't
lose either way, because I went to undergrad
in Boston to Red Sox all the way,
but then I lived in LA for the last 11 years.
So I got to go Dodgers all the way.
I got to eat pie regardless of what happened yesterday.
So I just had a whole pie by myself.
Whether it was an apple pie or a strawberry pie
was like the big decision.
Good afternoon-- good evening.
Thank you so much for having me here.
I wanted to share a little bit about the work
that we are doing.
And congratulations on all the incredible accolades
that you all have gotten.
That's just amazing.
In my short seven months at the university,
I've realized what an incredible and important culture
that athletics plays at the university.
Just under Erin's leadership, I've
just been amazed at the way her charisma
and her advocacy for you as students, and colleagues,
and community members, but also whatever
you say that we share an important value in that you all
are not just athletes.
You all are scholar athletes.
And that's really important, because you all
are here because you are fricking amazingly brilliant.
You all know that, right?
Yes.
You all, at the University of Chicago,
you're fricking amazingly brilliant.
And you're also incredibly talented.
And so that's a pretty powerful combination.
And the way that you all are able to do
that are on the field and in the classroom
has been something that I have been
amazed at just in my short time at the university.
And I hope you know that even though most
of us at the university may not be at every game, every meet,
every scrimmage, know that we're thinking of you,
we're rooting for you, and that's
really, really important.
And my role, I think, is something that I truly value.
People have often said, why the hell
did you leave LA to come to Chicago?
And I must say it was because of the students.
When I came to the university to check out
the Center for Identity and Inclusion,
I realized the passion for why we
want to do this work and that the students
across the university--
I actually met with several athletes
at one of my interviews.
And I realized that not only are you passionate about doing
really well athletically and really well academically,
but you want to create a better world.
And that's something that I want to be a part of.
So at the Center for Identity and Inclusion,
we've been working really hard to revamp our staff.
As of last week, we are fully staffed
for the first time since 2014.
We have 11 professional staff.
We have about eight graduate students.
We have about 10 undergraduate students.
And we have about a team of about 30 volunteers.
So we have a larger staff than we ever
had definitely in your lifetime on campus and definitely
in my lifetime on campus as well.
And so some of things that we've been working on
is thinking about what are the priorities for us
as a community and what's the work that we
want to do to create a more inclusive, more healthy, more
welcoming U Chicago.
And I actually think these are very relative
and relatable to athletics as well.
So the three priorities that we've been working on
is community, consistency, and collaboration.
And for me, when I think about community,
it means that we actually care for each other.
And we see the value that all of us brings to the table,
whether we're the goalie, or the captain,
or whatever athletic term you want to use in there.
And so for us of at the Center of Identity and Inclusion,
we've been thinking about how do the three offices that
fall under our umbrella not only foster a sense of inclusion
within the center, but how do we actually serve
as catalyst for the work that we do across the university.
And you all are a big part of that.
The second part is consistency.
As you all know, in athletics, consistency is helpful,
because that's how we win--
being consistent not only in supporting each other,
but also knowing what you know, knowing what you don't know,
knowing where we need to grow and the continuous training.
And the work that we do is really, really critical.
And so we've been working on trying
to develop policies and practices that
allow us to actually support you all better
and providing important and critical relationships
across the campus.
The third part is collaboration.
We clearly can't do this work by ourselves.
This is one of the most diverse athletic groups of students
I've ever stood in front of in my life.
And that's a pretty testament to not only you all as athletes
and scholars, but also [INAUDIBLE]
the university has to attract not only the best students,
but also the best athletes and people that
represent the broader complex of who we are as a university.
And so collaboration for us really
means that we get to work together
to think about how do we actually
be creative in the work that we do in creating
a more inclusive environment.
One fun little project that we've taken under underway
is the Common Book Initiative, U Chicago Common Book Initiative.
We realize that we love books.
We're all here because-- at least,
I like books and everyone I talked to seems to likes books.
So we're actually going to give away
1,000 free books this quarter.
How many of you like books?
Anyone?
Yes, awesome.
Thank you.
I wasn't getting much response there.
I was like I thought we were at the University of Chicago.
So how many we like graphic novels or comic books?
Yes.
OK, awesome.
So our first common book is going to be a graphic novel,
it's called The Best That We Could Do.
And it's about a story of a Vietnamese-American woman
and her family migrating from Vietnam
to the US and her actually tracing back their journey back
home and seeing what it meant actually not
only to represent yourself, but represent your family
and community.
And I think that's also where, when Erin I were talking,
I was like, this feels like it would
be such a cool opportunity for athletes to think about
what does this mean for you as a team member,
as a community member to understand where we come from.
And as President Zimmer said, you all
represent us as a university and as a community.
So where does that go, and how does that work?
And so I'm really, really excited about that.
So Erin will share some more information with you
in a couple of weeks about what that looks like.
But also I just wanted to share with you
all that as a new staff member on campus, truly
I look up to you all as community leaders.
The number of people--
I see a couple of familiar faces in the room.
And I can tell you that already what I love about our athletes
is that not only are you really good on the field
and in the classroom, but I see you walk across campus.
I was just at the vigil a few minutes ago.
And I'm going to another event later today.
And I can guarantee you, though, that there's
at least going to be five or six athletes there.
And that's pretty cool that you all
are engaged as holistic community members.
And what Erin is trying to create,
what Michelle is trying to create,
we are trying to build a better university for you and change.
I keep hearing, it's where fun goes to die.
And I want to change that dynamic.
And I keep hearing--
I keep trying to make this new phrase that we're
inclusion comes to thrive.
I do feel that.
And our athletes are really a big part of making that happen.
I know it's cheesy, but I like it.
Cheesy is good.
We're a campus of cheesy people.
I like it.
But I'm going to stop, but let you
know that my invitation to you all
is to get engaged in the work that we are doing.
If you're interested, reach out to us.
We will send you--
I'll work with Erin to send you out information
about how to can get involved and learn about
more that the Center for Identity and Inclusion
is working on, especially the Multicultural Center, the LGBTQ
Center, and the Student Support Services Offices,
and then ways that you actually--
what ideas you have to help us do the work that we do better
and what are the partnerships and collaboration we can
utilize to actually make and cultivate the U Chicago
that you want to see happen.
So thank you for your leadership.
Thank you for your incredible talent that you share with us
and thank you for representing all of us and the communities
that we bring together today.
Congratulations and welcome.
JEREMY VINCENT: Good evening, everyone.
And thank you for attending this year's AIMS of Athletics event.
I had the great honor and privilege
in introducing our speaker this evening, Dr. Derrick Brooms
Dr. Brooms attended the college from 1992 to 1996,
where he was a two sport athlete in both football and track
and field.
When you suited up for the Maroons,
Mr. Brooms was an absolute nightmare
for the opposing teams defense.
In his four years here, Mr. Brooms
was a NCAA Division III statistical champion,
All-American and two time UAA player
of the year at both wide receiver and kick return
position.
In 1995, he led the nation in kick-off return average.
Then in his final year here in 1996,
he was a recipient of the Stag medal
and also captured his second US sprint champion
title for both indoor and outdoor track.
Needless to say, Mr. Brooms was quite the athlete
during his time at the college.
After receiving his Bachelor of Arts
in African-American studies in the college,
he went on to obtain his PhD in sociology
from Loyola University of Chicago.
Since then Dr. Brooms has worked at several institutions
across the country, while specifically focusing
on the lived experience of African-American males
and the representation of African-American identity
and culture within the media.
Now, Dr. Brooms is an associate professor
of sociology and Africana studies at the University
of Cincinnati.
He specializes in the sociology of African-Americans
in urban environments with research and activism
that focuses on educational equity, race, and racism
diversity, and inequality, and identity.
Dr. Brooms works extensively with young African-American men
by teaching, coaching, and mentoring them
in a way that nurtures their success and help propel them
forward in life.
Just like his days as a Maroon, Dr. Brooms
has received many awards while working
in his respective fields.
Some of these accolades include 2016 Presidential Exemplary
Multicultural Teaching Award, the 2015 Diverse Issues
Emerging Scholar, and the 2014 Any Age Summer Institute
Fellow.
I know I speak for the rest of us in the room
and I say that we are very honored
to have you speak in front of us today.
So without further ado, please join me
in giving a warm welcome to Dr. Derrick Brooms.
DERRICK BROOMS: Good evening.
AUDIENCE: Good evening.
DERRICK BROOMS: Good evening.
AUDIENCE: Good evening.
DERRICK BROOMS: All right, where I'm from,
we do call and response.
So when people don't say anything back,
you just got to keep asking.
So first I want to start by thanking
Erin for the invitation to come out and speak today
and obviously a host of distinguished guests
and folks who work here on campus.
President Zimmer-- my friend and colleague--
Dr. Regina Dickson Reeves, Dean Rasmussen--
who I haven't met, but clearly is here doing the work.
I'm going to mention--
as part of my talk I'm going to mention a lot of names.
And the reason for that will kind of come to fruition
throughout my talk.
Many of these names you may not know and some of the names you
will know.
So I will ask for a little bit of grace and you
to bear with me for that.
Also, I want to thank my family and my friends for coming out
and obviously continuously supporting me
and all of my endeavors.
In particular, one of my daughters
asked me to give her a shout out.
So I got to make sure that I do that.
Gabs.
There she is.
So one of the most interesting things about sports
is that it really allows you to put things in perspective.
And so as I think about offering you
all a little bit of perspective, I
need to say thanks and give acknowledgment.
So first I want to say thanks and give knowledge me
to John Angeles, who passed away recently.
Coach Angeles was never one of my own coaches,
but he was always a coach to me.
I also want to in particular give thanks and send love
to the family of Coach Brian Baldea, longtime baseball coach
here, who during my years as a student athlete
and my years here coaching, was just one of the best people
that I knew.
And so I know that the community, not only
the University of Chicago community,
but also their families and their home
communities miss them dearly.
I also want to give acknowledgments
to three people who are also no longer with us.
The first one is Freddy Braun.
Again, these are names you won't hear.
I'll tell you a little bit of stories
about these individuals in a second
after I give you their names.
So Freddy Braun, who passed away in 2012, Sherman Galbraith.
Freddy Braun was my teammate on football.
And he also played baseball here at the University,
graduated in 1997.
Sherman Galbraith, who was my roommate, who
was a teammate on football and also alum,
passed away in early 2003 to a drowning incident.
And then last but not least, Philip Coleman,
who was my teammate for only one year.
He could only play one year here at the University,
because he had work-life obligations that
required him to work a little bit more
that the football schedule didn't allow.
And unfortunately, in 2012, Phil was killed by police officers.
He was having a psychotic episode.
In an altercation with his grandmother,
the police were called to the scene.
These family members asked for him
not to be taken into police custody.
They asked them take him to a mental health facility.
The police responded that we take people to prison.
They took him to prison.
A few days later, he died because he was tasered
after a psychotic episode.
And so we have ways in which our lives
are connected with people.
And that's really kind of at the heart
that I want to talk to you about today.
So there are some people in the room
who their presence, their encouragement,
and their support have been ongoing.
So I think about folks that I still call coach,
like Coach [INAUDIBLE],, who is a phenomenal administrator here.
He's a longtime coach.
I can think about Coach Amy Ritford.
I can think about Mike McGrath.
I can think about Leo Coker and my running joke
with Coach Coker is that I always had that shoulder
injury so I could never come out to wrestling practice,
primarily because I didn't want to get folded up.
So thanks coach for never actually inviting me
out to wrestling practice.
I've got a group of classmates that I
went to school with here.
I was recruited to play football here
at the University of Chicago after an 0 and 10 season.
So one of the first things I want to talk to you all about
is a little bit about commitment.
And one of the things that athletics cause us to do
is be committed beyond ourselves.
And so I was being recruited from a team that
was 0 and 10 the year before I came to university.
And one of the things that I'll always hold dear
is that I've had some phenomenal coaches, again, not only
the ones who were here and in place,
but those folks who actually coached me.
And so I want to mention three coaches, in particular-- excuse
me, four coaches in particular.
The first one is Neil Bailey.
He was my high school football coach.
The second one is Greg Quick.
He was my first coach here for football at the University.
The second is Richard Maloney--
who was my coach my last two years--
and then last but not least, Coach Mike [INAUDIBLE]----
who is my track and field coach.
And I'm going to say some things that
connects all of these coaches.
One of the most valuable lessons that I learned from them
was the power of relationships.
And so there are some life lessons that I want to share.
And I'll begin with a Yoruba proverb that
says if I stand tall, it's because I'm standing
on the shoulders of others.
The things that I accomplished in my athletic career, some
of the stats I actually really still talk about today just
because--
so as you heard that was mentioned my--
led the Division III in kickoff return
average with a 35.2 average, but my favorite part
was leading the UAA with the 56.5 yard
average on kickoff returns.
Part of that was because of the people that I play with.
And you might have heard these names--
Frank Baker, Joseph McCoy, Wesley McGee.
And then there's a bunch of names
that you again probably haven't heard,
like Jeff Stanczak, Gavin Bradley, Philly [INAUDIBLE],,
Arlen Wiley, and the list goes on and on, such as Jim Pearl,
Dan O'Brien, Tony Dragovich, David Swanson.
I've got a paper basically filled with names.
But I also had some folks that I was connected to who I never
played sports with like John Fitzgerald, Mark Mosier,
Aaron Sloan, Kate [? Panetta, ?] Raina [? Echols ?] and so many
others.
So let me talk to you a little bit about commitment.
One of the best parts about being a student athlete,
scholar athlete here at the University of Chicago
does the standard of excellence.
That standard was presented to me, again,
by a group of men who play football here
after going 0 and 10 the year before I got here.
And the thing that I'll always remember
is that the standard for excellence
was fervent with each one of them.
And so I've got a little bit of a funny story to tell.
And it kind of goes two ways.
The first part might not be as funny to you as it is to me.
And so you can imagine, growing up-- excuse me,
graduating from high school I was all of about 135 pounds.
And so the trainers aptly called me the skinny kid.
In fact, I think my shoulder pads
and my equipment weighed about as much as I did.
And so as they saw me kind of flapping around and running
around--
Mark Timmons and Lisa--
they called me the skinny kid.
And so the first day I showed up to football camp
at Pierce Hall, which most of you don't know--
which is really where to walk around campus
and not really know most of the buildings,
but it's kind of nice to walk around campus,
because I don't have to take any classes.
So that's kind of my fun part.
So I show up to football camp, and there
are some folks who are checking us into the table,
checking us in.
And I asked, is this the place we sign up or report in
for football?
And the individual says, yes.
And she says, excuse me, but this is only
for football players.
I said, that's what I just asked you.
This for the football team?
She said, yeah, but only you look a little bit too small.
This is only for the University of Chicago football players.
And so one of the things that I remembered was that by the time
that I graduate that individual would know who I was.
And so how did that kind of manifest itself?
And so beyond the individual accolades,
a couple of things I want to share
is that one of my proudest moments
is to go from an 0 and 10 team the year before I got here,
into 1995, where we finished 8 and 2,
which was the most wins since 1905.
The second thing is in my sophomore year, second year
here, our football team led Division III in Russia.
And again, I'll make mention of Joseph McCoy and Frank Baker.
And I was just like the decoy that the defense really
didn't worry about, because Frank got the ball every three
downs.
And then Joseph got the ball every two.
So as long as we got a first down,
then that means I didn't really get the ball too much.
But there's the thing about community.
And so one of the things that makes me or made me--
resonated with most of my accomplishments in football
was because I ran track and field.
And I'll give you a quote by one of my favorite athletes.
I've got two actually.
One is from Steve Prefontaine and he
said, "to give anything less than your best
just to sacrifice the gift."
So as I look out into the crowd in the audience today,
my main question to you is, on an everyday basis,
are you willing to give your best?
And the beautiful thing about Division III sports
is that folks don't come out and watch as practice.
So I used to teach at the University of Louisville.
I teach now at the University of Cincinnati.
And if you go to football practice,
in particular, you go to basketball practice,
they've got to close the doors.
They've got to keep people out.
Well, here at the University of Chicago,
there's really not anybody keeping folks out a practice,
because nobody showing up to our practices.
In fact, what I understand is there's still people
here asking, do we actually have a football team?
And so we're not confused about where we stand.
But we're also not confused about what we are called to do.
And so this notion of giving anything less than our best
is what it is that we're called here to do.
And so as I think about my own family,
there's a couple of clear questions that I always ask.
And that is, what is your attitude,
and what is your effort?
And so it's easy to be excited on game day, competition day,
when the fans show up, family shows up, friends show up,
and they're ready to cheer you on.
But are you showing up to practice
with the level of enthusiasm that
will push you beyond what you thought you could accomplish?
There's lots of days that we've spent here
trying to carve out our own paths
and what it is that we're trying to accomplish.
But as Jesse Owens said, "awards become corroded,
friends gather no dust."
And as I think about my experiences here,
I think about folks like Aaron [INAUDIBLE],,
Dan [? Crookston, ?] Shawn McKay, Brian [INAUDIBLE],,
Chris Doyle, Gary Brooks, [INAUDIBLE],,
Jennifer [? Sheraton ?] [? Sara ?] Hallman,
Courtney Belle, Nate [INAUDIBLE],,
[? Marlin ?] Smith, Eric Smart, Mark [? Pataki, ?] Drew
[? Crist, ?] Jimmy [? Wales, ?] Booker [? Whit, ?] Mario Small,
Margaret Pizer, Michelle [? Rizzo, ?] Neil [INAUDIBLE],,
these are folks who have come through these halls and have
left legacies of success.
Here's what I want to tell you.
Athletics is a place where history, the present,
and the past are always simultaneously merged.
During my time here, I had the privilege
of getting to meet and talk to John Jay Berwanger.
And one of the things that he said to me when
he was somewhere in his 90s, he said every time
you step on the field or any round of competition,
leave no regrets.
And I leave that to you.
We don't get time back.
We don't get yesterday back.
And so what we're called to do is both individually
and collectively.
Find different ways to contribute.
And the three guys that I mentioned
earlier, Fred [? Braun, ?] Sherman Galbreath,
and Phil Coleman--
Fred Braun and Sherman Galbreath never started a game
in their football careers.
And yet, they were some of the best teammates
that I've ever had, because they showed up, they were committed,
and they never made any excuses.
And so as I think about the ways in which I've incorporated what
I've experienced in my athletic career,
both as a student athlete and as a coach,
I want to talk to you a little bit about winning.
The most important thing about winning
is that every day we have an opportunity to do so,
because what I fervently believe is that we're are
only competition.
I came in at 135 pounds.
The coaches wanted me to be 165 pounds.
And I say, coaches, there's not enough peanut butter
to help me make a pick yet.
And so by the time my third year,
I was weighing about 167 pounds.
I remember talking to the coaches,
and what they asked me to do was very simple.
They said focus on you.
And so one of the benefits of having participated in track
as you all know for those folks who were both cross-country
athletes and as well track and field athletes is that you
don't--
if it's raining and cold outside,
it's raining and cold for everybody.
I really wouldn't know why we do outdoor track
in March in Chicago, but that's a whole different story.
But they said, one of the things that you just
need to worry about is your own effort.
And so I've got two kind of what I
think are resonating athletic experiences that I
want to share with you.
And then I'll bring it all back together.
And so I remember my first outdoor track meet.
I didn't run my first year, primarily because the week
before our first football game, our freshman year,
I broke my wrist.
And so I actually missed the first three weeks of the season
and spent most of the winter and the spring rehabbing.
And if you can imagine, trying to convince people
that you're on the football team,
and you're in the weight room, and all
you have is the bar, because I couldn't hold any weight.
And when people walk in, you're actually
struggling with just the bar and folks are looking like,
I thought you said you was on a football team.
Don't judge me yet.
And so I didn't play.
I didn't participate on track and field my first year.
And in fact, the reason why I participated my sophomore year
through my graduation was because of two guys
that I mentioned [? Marlon ?] Smith and [INAUDIBLE] Martin.
They simply, with my football teammates,
and they came and said, man, we need some help.
We need somebody else.
And so as I think about this notion of community,
that's really critical.
So my first funny--
it's not really funny-- but funny track
and field story is running in the 400.
So where's folks on the track team?
Any track folks out here?
How many folks have ever run the 400 before?
OK.
So you'll appreciate this story.
Anybody ever heard of booty lock?
First outdoor met-- I ran a couple of indoor meets.
And I think Coach [INAUDIBLE] was being gracious.
He kept me in all the short stuff.
I say coach if got to count laps, I'm not going to make it.
That was my kind of thing.
And so we're outdoors, and he says, well, D,
you can run the 400, because there's only one lap.
So you don't have the count.
I was like, you're killing me.
And so I was like, coach--
I was trying to negotiate with him--
I was like, I think we should let the team get going,
and you could put me last.
He's like, D, don't worry about it.
I got it.
You're going to go first.
I'm like, you're going to make me go first.
Now I'm kind of fast.
Put me last.
And this is where you can kind of learn a few things.
So he puts me first in, again, outdoor track.
We've got the stagger.
I don't really know what I'm doing at this point,
because I'm still new to the sport.
And my first inclination is I just
want to catch the guy on the outside lane.
So I catch the guy on the outside lane about halfway
through the curve.
And I say I want to catch the next guy.
And I catch the next guy another 40 meters later.
And so I just keep--
as I'm going, I just keep saying I want to catch--
I was probably in lane two.
And again, we're out here in Stagg Field.
And you guys can start to anticipate what happens.
So I've got all this focus on catching this guy,
catching that guy, catching that guy.
But of course, it's a 400 meter race.
I come out of a curve and nobody told me
that there was a piano waiting on me.
You guys didn't catch that.
So I probably ran about a 54 that day, 55.
I'll say 55.
I think I ran 20 seconds in the last 100 meters.
Because I had nothing left by the time
I came out of the last curve.
And so I went back to the coach, and I said,
hey, I was giving it everything I got.
Why didn't you put me last?
Because I knew you was going to die.
I was like, come on.
So part of that story that is always funny to me
is just focus on what it is you're trying to do.
So I always appreciated Coach [INAUDIBLE]
for kind of seeing the ways in which I
could be useful to the team.
And so what does that mean as I think about what
we can do with athletics?
One of the things athletics has done
has allowed me to build community in ways
that go well beyond myself.
And this is where it connects back to commitment.
When you're committed to other people, when
you're committed to the team, this is what resonates.
And so how is it that folks can be
excited and committed to showing up and putting
in work every day coming from an 0 and 10 season?
It's because we all have the great potential
and the possibility to do our best.
And so one of my favorite things about being
an alum at the University of Chicago
is that I get to go to some of our athletic events,
basically whenever it works out from my schedule.
And I want to mention some names of some folks.
A couple of them are in the room,
and I know a couple of my not in the room,
because they are alums.
But I want to point out to you that you
have an impact on folks that go well
beyond your teammates or other fellow athletes.
And so one person, in particular,
I think about is Stephanie Anderson, women's basketball
alum.
I also think about Madison, another alum.
And then I think about some of the women on the current team,
such as Mia and Ola.
There are ways in which you perform and commit and show up
and contribute in ways that make young people pay attention
to who you are.
I want to make sure that you all understand
that we have an incredible, incredible responsibility
to each other.
And we have incredible responsibility
to those folks who are coming behind us.
And so some of the things that I've accomplished
are because people, like Joseph McCoy,
demanded excellence from the time
that I showed up on campus--
people like Coach Quick, Coach [? Maloney, ?]
Coach [INAUDIBLE].
And I can, again, go broader than that--
Coach Baldea, Coach [INAUDIBLE],, Coach [INAUDIBLE]..
They all expected us to perform at our absolute best.
And there was no room for excuses.
And so let me talk to you a little bit about winning.
What do you do if you're on the swimming and diving team,
if you're on a cross-country team,
or if you're on the track team-- and I'm going to use those
for this point in particular--
and the person that's lining up next to you,
you absolutely know that they're faster than you?
What do you do?
You go faster.
You go faster.
There was a guy who I raced with.
I won't say his name just because I
know they're recording and I don't
want him to think I was giving him props.
Every meet I showed up to-- he went to Emory--
ever meet I showed up to where we had a race against Emory,
I was mad.
I was like, come on.
Why does dude gotta be in my heat?
And this was a guy who actually--
was an all UA performer.
He was an All-American, an incredible student athlete,
but even more importantly, just an incredible guy.
And so that's what I take away from my experiences
as I think about what it is they were called here to do.
I'm standing in front of you.
I played 12 games a high school football, 12.
I played four in my junior year and 8 in my senior year.
There was no way that anybody could look at me, again,
graduating 135 pounds and think that I would accomplish
some of the things that I accomplished during my playing
career.
But I didn't accomplish those things because of me.
I accomplished them because the folks who were in front of me
and who were around me demanded my best.
And this I think are part of the AIMS of Athletics--
is that we have to show up and be present,
not just in any way, but in our best selves,
because we have people who are counting on us.
When I think about some of the friends that I gathered,
when I think about the community that I'm engaged with,
when I think about some of the community work that I've done,
when I think about some of my own coaching, what I've really
tried to do is replicate what's been presented before me.
And so as you think about in football, in particular
when we talk about wave the flag,
this is not just a statement.
It is a homage, and a honor, and a responsibility to those folks
who've come before us.
As we think about people like Bruce Montella,
Neil [? Cowie, ?] Jeff [? Stolte, ?] and others
as I've mentioned, there's a standard of excellence that
we're being called to do and engage in and sustain.
Athletics is just one arena in which
we make those contributions.
And I beg to ask you, how do we transition
and translate those into the communities
in which we are engaged in?
One of the things that I miss most
is participating in sports, but my body doesn't really miss it.
But I also miss working with young people.
And so I've got a few folks in a room
that I've had the privilege to teach and coach.
And to me, this is what makes me the teacher
that I am is the opportunity to have participated in sports.
So let me leave you with two thoughts.
The first one is in order for us to be our best selves,
we have to believe that we can always be who we are.
Some of us have accomplished great things
in our athletic careers.
Some of us have accomplished great things in the classroom.
And some of us have great opportunities sat right
before us, but it's not just about you.
What teammate, what classmate, what peer are you
going to pull with you to achieve more?
As I think about the concept of team,
I always think about together everybody achieves more.
And I hope that you understand that there
is no one way for any of us to reach the goals and the heights
that we dare to reach if we're not
able to lean on, learn from, share, and push
each other to our best selves.
Secondly, I'll end with the statement that my coach,
Coach --
always told us.
He said, "excellence is your requirement.
Fun is the benefit."
We must be excellent in all of our efforts,
because otherwise we slip knot into engagement we slip knot
into being who we are, and we don't honor
those who have come before us.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you for this opportunity.
Have a great night.
ERIN MCDERMOTT: So I asked Derrick to stay up here,
because I want him to actually show you what is in his bag.
He actually asked this of me last year,
and we were able to come through.
So take there on out.
DERRICK BROOMS: I asked for some paper.
I'm joking.
ERIN MCDERMOTT: Here you go.
Probably wasn't Adidas when you had it.
DERRICK BROOMS: So when I was here, it was not Adidas.
The gray sweatshirts, we called them [INAUDIBLE]..
And our uniforms were made by Russell.
ERIN MCDERMOTT: Yes.
And the Russell's were around.
Some of you wore Russell's here in the room, I'm sure.
So upgrade to the Adidas we got him and his lucky number seven.
And yes, your grays are far from the [INAUDIBLE] grays for sure.
So I just want to thank Derrick for coming back to campus
and speaking to us.
And some of the highlights-- first of all, I'm
going to give a out to [? Gabs. ?] I'll
give you another one.
And actually one of the things, I've
gotten to know Derrick mostly through bringing
all his girls to women's basketball games,
volleyball games.
So always a great dad when he's encouraging his daughters
to do what we do.
So there's nothing more powerful than girl power.
So keep it going.
Some of the highlights I think we can take from that
is first starting always with thanking and acknowledging
and gaining perspective that way,
a commitment to be committed beyond ourselves,
that relationships are really what this is all about,
and that friends don't gather dust.
I like that.
Leave no regrets, find ways to contribute,
focus on what you are trying to do, show up,
and be present as our best selves, engagement--
and that includes into our communities--
believe in who we are and together, we all achieve more.
So thanks for everything you do Maroons.
Thank you again, Derrick.
It's been a pleasure and an honor.
This is the end of AIMS of Athletics.
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