Matt Brock
Doctoral Student & OSU Foundation Associate Vice President of Corporations and Foundation Relations

There are several reasons that I give to OSU. 

As part of an organization that raises funds to support OSU, I think it’s the right thing to do. If we aren’t giving to OSU in a meaningful way while asking others to do so, it could send a message that doesn’t quite add up. We set an extremely important example for donors when we choose to give back to the institution we support on a daily basis. 

Also, my wife and I want to leave a legacy.  Not necessarily one that bears our names, but an unspoken legacy that we know will impact others long after we are gone.  Giving makes us feel good - I really do believe our spirits are healthier when we offer part of what we’ve been given for others.

These are all important parts of the reason why I give.  But the essence of why I give is best captured in the story of an event that transpired in my life not so long ago. It goes something like this:

I can’t think of a single good phone call I’ve gotten in my life after 12 a.m.   In fact, I can only remember one, which probably means I’ve been spared a lot of misfortune others have not. 

This particular call came in the middle the night in January 2003. It was a conversation I’ll never forget.  I had just received news that my Marine Corps Reserve Unit was being mobilized in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  I had less than a week to get my affairs in order and report to my unit in Kansas before we’d head out to California and who knows where after that.  My assignment was for a year with the possibility of a year-long extension afterward.

This news was certainly life-altering.  Though I thought about it briefly when I enlisted, I never really thought about it.  I was proud to serve my country, but the prospect of being separated from my wife, friends and work for a year was horribly upsetting.  There was something else, too, that made this call particularly difficult.  We learned two days before that we were pregnant with our first child.
 
I could tell you about all the emotions and uncertainty we were facing, but I don’t need to.  You’ve been there – a loved one has been sick, you’ve lost a job or moved to a new town and had to start over.  We tried to find answers for all the questions situations like ours often bring.  Would I be safe?  Would I get to experience the birth of my daughter?  Would I come home at all?

Those questions never get answered immediately, do they?  They didn’t for us.  But as we were preparing to leave, I remember a knock at our front door.  A gentleman we knew from church – not horribly well, an acquaintance really – stopped by to wish us well.  After he said a few words, he handed me a check for $1,000 and said “I just want you to know that we’re thinking of you and hope this can help in some way.”

A simple but incredibly meaningful act.  An act that taught me key lessons and is the major influence as to why I give to OSU or anywhere else. 

A few things about that gesture really stick out to me: He gave knowing he would probably get nothing in return – I wasn’t in a position to repay him.  There was nothing spectacular about the amount of money he gave – though it was a lot to us, by the standards of many it wasn’t much at all – he just wanted to do something.  And, he had no way of knowing what would ever happen to the money – that wasn’t his motive.  His gift said, without words, “I believe in you.  I believe in what you are doing.  I have a heart to help you succeed.”

Students who come to OSU face the same uncertainties many of us face at various times in our lives – even those we face now.  Some leave home for the first time in their lives.  Some have no clue who they are or what they want to be.  And some, quite frankly, have no idea if they will make it through.  So these students, just like someone once did for me, need those around them to ask these questions:

• Do I believe in them?  Do you remember a time long ago or very recently when you were in their shoes?  Were you blessed enough to have someone support you?  You can be that person for someone who has no one else. 
• Do I believe in what they are doing?  Do you think they can make a difference because of their experience at OSU? Has higher education allowed you or someone in your family to be more than you could have otherwise?
• Do I want them to succeed?  Are you willing to be part of their future, no matter how small you think your contribution?  “Just a little” to you may mean the world to someone else.

We answered “yes” to all of these questions.  That’s why we give to OSU. We believe in our students and what they will do to change the world.  We want them to succeed.

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