“When the unexpected does appear, though, the key to success is how you respond to it. Whatever your response, you take a risk—but risks are also opportunities.” – Walt Cooner. ’74
Sigma Chi Alum Walt Cooner, ’74 answers our questions and offers solid advice for Brothers young and old.
- What is your best memory from your Sigma Chi days?
My “Sigma Chi Days” are still a work in progress – once a Sig, always a Sig – and each decade features fond memories that one cannot easily rank as “best.” - How do you benefit from the fraternity experience as an Alum?
I cannot speak for other fraternities, but the Sigma Chi experience is a two-way investment – you get out of it what you put into it. - What is your advice for today’s active Brothers?
Make the most of your undergraduate years as a Sigma Chi: attune to the Ritual; be mindful of your initiation oath; seize leadership opportunities the Fraternity makes available – whether as a Chapter Officer, attending KTLW or Horizons; carry the Seven Lights with you, concentrating on improving your practice of a different light each day of the week. - Did you land a job thanks to Sigma Chi networking? Or have you made other fraternity connections through your career? Share the story of how your membership in Sigma Chi has benefited you in your professional life.
The only jobs I landed due to Sigma Chi networking have been volunteer positions that allow me to give back to a fraternity that has given me so much throughout my adult life. That aside, I have encountered Sigma Chis in virtually every career field I pursued for the past four decades. My flight commander in pilot training is a Sig from East Texas; at the U.S. Air Force Academy, I served on a faculty that included several of our Brothers. In the Middle East, I worked with three ambassadors who are Sigs. While preparing for the Iran Rescue Operation, I had the honor of meeting Delta Force Commander and University of Georgia Sig COL Charlie Beckwith (All honor to his name). Here in the Nation’s Capital, not a day goes by that I do not see or talk to fellow Sigs who are making a difference at home and abroad. - What do you think is more important when it comes to career success; being prepared or being willing to take risks?
Both are important. Having served more than two and one-half decades in a branch of the military that touts flexibility as “the key to airpower,” I try to be the very best in whatever field or endeavor I pursue. No matter how well I may have planned, however, even my best strategies were/are vulnerable to chance encounters or events I failed to anticipate. When the unexpected does appear, though, the key to success is how you respond to it. Whatever your response, you take a risk—but risks are also opportunities. When I graduated from high school, I was opposed to the war in Vietnam and feared flying; my intention was to become an international lawyer dealing in East Asian affairs. I had it all mapped-out. The Air Force then offered me a full scholarship to the school of my choice. It would “free,” so I chose the most expensive of my five schools, the farthest from home, and the one I knew the least about. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made. But the deal also required me to go to pilot training, with the uncertain future of possibly flying missions that ran contrary to my ethos. That, too, did not bother me, since I expected to wash out of pilot training, return to Emory for law school and pursue my dream career in East Asia. That did not happen. After barely skirting elimination, I had an aeronautical Epiphany, decided I loved flying, and was eventually assigned not to a fighter/bomber unit, but to a strategic airlift squadron on the East Coast, flying primarily to the Middle East and Africa. Needless to say, law school never happened; nor did a career in East Asia; nor did I pursue a typical Air Force path to colonel; nor did I follow my squadron mates into the airlines at the end of a very rewarding military career. Over time my Japanese language skills morphed into Arabic and Farsi; and any airline aspirations I might have had gave way to a national security path that has since earned me a reputation as an authority on Middle East issues. In short, having spent my whole life pursuing excellence, I realize this also involves a willingness to embrace risk as part of the process and an opportunity to test one’s mettle. - Why did you join Sigma Chi? Share your reasons for pledging as an undergrad, and how your membership still has a positive impact on your life today.
My choice narrowed to three great fraternities: Sigma Nu (my father’s affiliation), Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and Sigma Chi. Why Sigma Chi? It was, quite simply, a cut above the rest! After pledging, I had a superb Magister, Ronnie Poole, who seared Sigma Chi ideals and principles into our minds. He also walked the talk, we noticed, and we acted on his lead. - What is your favorite/most memorable Sigma Chi tradition?
Singing the Sweetheart of Sigma Chi to the only “non-Sigs” who hold a candle to our Order — the most important ladies in our lives. - If you could go back to re-live any single moment from your fraternity days, what would it be and why?
I don’t look back! - How would your life be different today if you had never joined Sigma Chi?
We’ll never know, will we? One thing is certain, I would not have been Grand Praetor of our Fraternity’s top-tier Eastern Province! - What did Sigma Chi teach you about leadership?
Good leaders set a positive tone, inspire others to achieve common goals, take responsibility for their actions as well as those of organizations they oversee, forever seeking talented candidates to replace them, and leave a legacy for their successors to improve upon. - Are you married? Kids? Career?
Yes, to my sweetheart Sara Jane Wallace. Kids? An adult daughter, Elyse. Any new or current career plans or goals? My life is quite full as it is trying to be a worthy husband, an inspirational dad, an effective senior Federal Government official, a board member in a family business, a value-added volunteer in three demanding organizations, and Grand Praetor of the Eastern Province (with its four alumni chapters, six undergraduate chapters, and one colony). - What would you like to see more of from Sigma Chi as an Alum?
It is not what I want to see from Sigma Chi as an Alumnus, but what I want to see from Sigma Chi Alumni, i.e., greater Alumni involvement and commitment at the local level throughout the National Capital Area and greater Baltimore.
“Good leaders set a positive tone, inspire others to achieve common goals, take responsibility for their actions as well as those of organizations they oversee, forever seeking talented candidates to replace them, and leave a legacy for their successors to improve upon.” – Walt Cooner, ’74