Forging Yourself a Character
Prefect Installation: September 18, 2009

Dr. Everson, Mr. Bremner, members of the platform party, alumni, parents, faculty and staff, students, friends of the College.  Good morning, everyone, and welcome.  Today’s Chapel Service is, of course, a very special occasion.  First of all, we are installing fourteen Senior School students as College Prefects for the 2009-2010 school year.  In doing so, we are providing them with a formal leadership role within the HSC community.  At the same time, we also are recognizing the recipient of this year’s Alumni of Distinction Award, Mr. Ron Bremner. 

Mr. Bremner is a man of extraordinary energy, vision and passion.  A Hamilton boy, he grew up in the East End, where as he recalls, “if you had both of your ears you were considered to be a sissy.”  In the more than four decades that have passed since he was a student at HSC, his life has been characterized by a love of sports, a commitment to excellence, a passion for life and a desire to help others.  He certainly was an effective leader while he was here at HSC.  He served as Head Prefect or Head Boy, and he was captain of both the football and hockey teams.  Later, at the University of Guelph, he studied English and History, while ‘quarterbacking’ the Varsity Football Team. 

For most of his professional life, Ron has been immersed in the world of communications, first with CFRB in Toronto, and later in Vancouver with CKNW/CFMI and BCTV.  More recently, he served as President of the Calgary Flames and of the Saddledome.  In all of these endeavours, Ron’s unique combination of energy and vision has produced amazing results.  He loves people and genuinely believes that everyone can make a difference and has a role in contributing to an organization’s success.  As someone recently observed, “Ron is a wonderful, decent, thoughtful and incredibly energetic person. It’s those qualities that have made him really successful.”  Please join me in providing Mr. Ron Bremner with an enthusiastic HSC welcome.

I also would like to recognize a number of other special guests, beginning with the parents of our soon-to-be-installed Prefects.  It’s wonderful to have you here; we are as proud of your sons and daughters as you are.  I’m pleased, as well, that we have been joined by Mrs. Bremner, along with a number of Governors and Trustees, Alumni Association and Parents’ Association volunteers, retired faculty, alumni and friends of the College.  Thank you, everyone, for being part of this very special occasion. 

In a recent Hamilton Spectator article, Rabbi Emeritus Bernard Baskin refers to a quotation that his Grade 8 teacher used to display on his classroom’s bulletin board.  “When wealth is lost, nothing basic is lost. When health is lost, something important is lost. But when character is lost, all is lost.”  Based on the words of Horace Greely, a 19th-century American journalist and political leader, these words convey the essence of effective leadership.

Think about it; leadership is all about character.  Leaders lead from who they are, and their most valuable asset is not their eloquence, nor their ability to sway others.  It’s their character, and whether or not they exhibit a sense of personal integrity.  “Only one thing endures,” Greely emphasized, “and that is character.”

As Rabbi Baskin points out, the development of character is not easy or straightforward.  Rather, it’s a long and arduous process - a struggle with many setbacks, disappointments, mistakes and failures along the way.  Character “is a distant goal to which there is no shortcut,” Rabbi Baskin continues.  “It is the sum total of all the little decisions, the small deeds, the daily reactions to the choices that confront us.”  “It is not inherited or an appendage of birth, wealth, talent or station. It is a result of one’s own endeavours.”

I’m reminded of Goethe, the great 19th-century German philosopher and poet.  He used the metaphor of a blacksmith working at a forge to describe the development of character. In his view, you can’t dream or wish ourselves into a character; you have to hammer and forge ourselves into one.  “Character develops,” he stressed, “in the full current of human life.”

Like Rabbi Baskin, I truly believe that leadership is not a measure of power, position, popularity or profile.  Rather, it’s a natural outgrowth of a person’s character.  A key component is a desire to serve, combined with a genuine concern for others.

Whether we are young or old, about to be installed as a Prefect or not, we all have leadership potential; we are all called upon to serve.  Hardly a day goes by in which we don’t find ourselves in situations involving ethical decisions and requiring courage, tenacity, integrity and selflessness. Moreover, it is through ‘the rough and tumble’ of daily life that we develop the personal qualities that make us better people and more effective leaders.  That’s how, in the words of Goethe, we forge ourselves into a character.

Prefects: the HSC community has a multi-facetted challenge for you.  We challenge you to remain humble, respectful and always willing to serve.  We challenge you to empower your classmates and to inspire those around you.  We challenge you to do what needs to be done and to say what needs to be said, even when those things are not popular.  We challenge you to dedicate yourselves to the ideals of this great school and to leave it a better place than you found it.  And, in the words of Eugene Habecker, may you always be motivated by “loving concern rather than by a desire for personal glory.”  That should be your touchstone as you assume the role of College Prefects for the 2009-2010 school year.