UNDERGRADUATE & UNIVERSITY AFFAIRS MESSAGE
Why Being a Real Kappa Man Means
Taking Responsibility for Your Actions!
By William Dunbar, Director of Undergraduate & University Affairs
Each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible. - Unknown In my personal reflection as a Kappa man and father, two main attributes undergird both: being loyal and taking responsibility for one’s actions. While loyalty is essential in our brotherhood, I am focusing on accountability. I’ve found that we all encounter struggles when it comes to taking responsibil- ity. Sometimes, it seems like we will do anything to avoid it. The main culprit seems to be our egos. We think of ourselves as strong, smart and better than the rest of the men we encounter. We’re very competi- tive. We like the idea of being the best, and although we very well know that we aren’t, we don’t like thinking about individual shortcomings or achieving less than our goals. Every time we do something wrong or fail at something, it shows some of our shortcomings. The truth is, although we all know we fail at times, we don’t like being reminded of the possibility. However, the only way to diminish failure and reduce our shortcomings is by accounting for them. Planning in advance, seeking help when needed, learning all we can and striving to im- prove helps to create the environment that develops us into Real Kappa Men: men that do their best to come as close as possible to the concept of the perfect man. We all should strive for perfection even though we know all humans are inherently flawed as it relates to Godly
the negative. We have to believe we can achieve the impossible in our lives and continue to push ourselves to evolve as we commit to taking small consistent steps in the right direction. We cannot be consistently inconsistent and expect to achieve our goal to be Real Kappa Men. In closing, I am in the daily struggle alongside all of you as we strive for this ideal. Some days will be better than others, but what I have learned is that if you make the commitment to strive for perfection each day you will begin to see results. So as you become leaders in your chapters and on your campuses, think about what it means to be Real Kappa Men. Be loyal. Be accountable. Be responsible for your actions. As al- ways, I humbly serve you in my capacity and will always be here to help you on your journey of Phi Nu Pi.
standards. Nevertheless, we should have the understanding that working towards perfection is the only pursuit worthy fol- lowing in life. To take responsibility we must first accept that we have ultimate control of our responses to situations. We have to remove all blame from others and those in society that we encounter. We have to choose progress over perfection. We have to continue to move closer toward achieving the goals that we set for our- selves. When we make mistakes we can’t let them define us. When doubt tries to paralyze us, we have to remind our- selves of the last time our doubts were wrong and choose to direct our thoughts towards the positive and not dwell on
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