Integrity

Tonight's newspaper had someone grabbing the headlines...

and up in the smaller spot, appropriately above the fray, someone smiling and showing us the way.

Take a look for yourself:

Chancellor Katehi meet Jim Sochor.

Jim Sochor was the beloved football (and golf) coach for UC Davis for 30 years.

He was humble and soft spoken.

He was a gifted listener and genuine in every way.

People responded to his work ethic.

His kindness.

His ability to out-perform against more talented and more funded football programs.

Mostly, they knew they were in the presence of integrity.

He was honest.

Dependable.

Real.

True to his word.

Chancellor Katehi, are you listening?

There is a reason that Coach Sochor could walk around town 

and talk to anybody at any time with that shy smile.

He was approachable and appreciative.

We could feel his authenticity.

He was the definition of beloved and admired.

In this time of uncertainty and shady-doings by our Chancellor, 

Jim Sochor's legacy is a reminder of what an Aggie really is.

UC Davis isn't lost.

We know what is valued.

We're not flashy...

or shady...

or attention-seeking...

We're the Jim Sochor version:

head down, working hard,

letting the effort and the work speak for itself,

finding a way to be the best when the odds are against us.

This quote is what it means to be an Aggie:

"We knew that everybody we played would be bigger, stronger, faster and 

more talented than we were. 

We had to find a way. 

And that way was that no one would be closer as a team than we would be. 

Our central values became trust, unity, togetherness." 

-- Jim Sochor in a 2007 interview

Trust - Unity - Togetherness

This, right here, is the way we find our way back.

Our path to healing.

I went to school at UC Davis when Trust, Unity and Togetherness were real 

and available right on campus...

students, they still are -- available right this minute.

Integrity matters.

We can lift the pepper-sprayed pages of our recent history and dive deeper to to our shared history with this man who leaves such a remarkable legacy.

He leaves a legacy of love.

Friendship.

Kindess.

Care.

Those who knew Jim Sochor well - and even those of us who only knew him from short, quick limited conversations - knew what mattered most to him:

family.

But, funny enough, he pretty much considered all of Davis to be his family...

and we all happily signed up to stand in his sunshine.

We each get to choose how we spend our days.

Our micro-choices add up.

Do we choose kindness?

Unity?

Trust?

I do.

I choose Jim Sochor's Aggie Pride.everytime.

Instead of Googling pepper spray,

Google Jim Sochor.

Google Larry Vanderhoef while you're at it.

Those two don't need any internet scrubbing. 

Just a chance to internet shine.

This coming Saturday will be a day that we all stop and remember a terrific human.

He's deeply missed...his absence so painfully noticeable.

But, he crossed our path for a reason.

He showed us how.

Strive for unity, trust and togetherness.

Seek the good.

Stay honest.

Work hard...and make the magic happen.

Jim did.

We can too.

"Fame is a vapor.

Popularity an accident.

Riches take wings.

Only one thing endures

and that is character."

-- Horace Greeley