Author Unknown
Harvard University births Standford University via poor judgement
As my mother always said, “A word to the wise is sufficient.”
An older couple stepped off the train in Boston. The wife was wearing a faded gingham dress, her husband a threadbare homespun suit. They walked from the train station to the campus of Harvard University and found their way to the outer office of the president of the University. The president’s secretary had the couple sized up in a second. She could tell that such unsophisticated country folk didn’t belong at a renowned institution like Harvard, and probably were not even worthy of a visit to Cambridge. She met their glances with a frown, the kind that was meant to send them a message. “We want to see the president,” the man said softly. “He’ll be busy all day,” the secretary snapped. “We’ll wait,” the lady replied.
For a good while the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away. They didn’t. The secretary finally decided to disturb the president, even though it was a chore she always regretted doing. “Maybe if they just see you for a few minutes, they’ll leave,” she suggested. The president was perturbed. Someone of his importance obviously didn’t have time to spend with such people. But because he detested people in gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office, he sighed in exasperation and nodded for his secretary to show the couple in.
The president, stern-faced, strutted toward the couple. The lady told him, “We had a son that attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus.” The president wasn’t touched; he was shocked. “Madam,” he said gruffly, “We can’t put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery.” “Oh, no,” the lady explained quickly, “We don’t want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard.” The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, and then exclaimed, “A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have spent over seven and a half million dollars on the physical plant at Harvard.”
For a moment, the lady was silent. The president was pleased. Perhaps now he would be rid of them. The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, “Is that all it costs to start a University? Why don’t we just start our own?” Her husband nodded. The president’s face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. And so Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford walked away and went to Palo Alto, California, where they established the University that bears their name, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.
~ ~ I Believe! ~ ~
