OT: Stanford University...a true story from what I was told.
THE LADY IN A FADED GINGHAM DRESS
> >
> > The lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a
> > homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and
> > walked timidly without an appointment into the president of
> > Harvard's outer office.
> >
> > The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods,
> > country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn't
> > even deserve to be in Cambridge. She frowned. "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 hours, the secretary
> > ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become
> > discouraged and go away. They didn't. And the secretary
> > grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president,
> > even though it was a chore she always regretted to do.
> > "Maybe if they just see you for a few minutes, they'll leave,"
> > she told him.
> >
> > And he sighed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his
> > importance obviously didn't have the time to spend with them,
> > but he detested gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up
> > his outer office. The president, stern-faced with dignity,
> > 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.
> > And 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, then exclaimed, "A building! Do you have
> > any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven
> > and a half million dollars in the physical plant at Harvard."
> >
> > For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased.
> > He could get rid of them now. And 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 Mr.and Mrs. Leland Stanford walked away, traveling to Palo Alto,
> > California where they established the University that bears their
>name, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.
> >
> > You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat
> > those who can do nothing for them or to them.
> >
> >
>--Malcolm Forbes |
