Harvard
A 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 Harvard University President'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. "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.
"Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they'll leave," she said. 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 and with dignity,
strutted toward the couple.
The lady told him, "We had a son who 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, 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 buildings here at Harvard."
For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. Maybe he could get
rid of them now. 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.
Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, traveling to Palo Alto,
California where they established the university that bears their name, Stanford
University, 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 they think can
do nothing.
----- A TRUE STORY
----- by Malcolm Forbes
A 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 Harvard University President'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. "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.
"Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they'll leave," she said. 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 and with dignity,
strutted toward the couple.
The lady told him, "We had a son who 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, 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 buildings here at Harvard."
For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. Maybe he could get
rid of them now. 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.
Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, traveling to Palo Alto,
California where they established the university that bears their name, Stanford
University, 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 they think can
do nothing.
----- A TRUE STORY
----- by Malcolm Forbes
