An older man and woman entered the university rector's office in disgust. The color of his clothes was a little faded, and his hair was spilled. Seeing them, the secretary jumped up and blocked their way. What can these people, who look like from the countryside, do at Harvard University?
The husband said they had come to the rector. The secretary explained that the rector was very busy today and could not spend time with them now. She said, "Let's wait," and sat down with her husband. The secretary thought that he would get bored waiting, and then he was busy with his own business. Hours passed, but the two old men waited patiently…
At last the secretary herself was bored. He went to the rector and said, "I think you can't help but see me. It doesn't look like you're leaving." There was no other way. The young rector reluctantly invited them into his room. It was obvious that he did not like it, that he was very disappointed. Those who came from the region hated the villagers even more. On top of that, don't you say that they will come to such a high-ranking person without a hitch? So it was snowing, and he was nervous.
She immediately began to speak. Her children, who studied at Harvard, died a year ago. His sons were very happy to study here, so they decided to erect a monument in his memory on the campus.
The rector was not relieved by these words, but became angry. "If we erected a monument to everyone who studied at Harvard and then died," he said sarcastically, "it would be a graveyard."
"No, no," she interrupted. "It's not a monument." We can build a building at Harvard. ” The rector looked at their spilled clothes with disgust and said nervously, "What about the building?" "Do you know how much a building costs?" More than $ XNUMX million has been spent on our most recent project. ”
This useless talk will stop, and the rector thought that he would get rid of the troublemakers. She looked at her husband and said, “It only takes so much money in the beginning to build a building. Can't we build our own university? ” Her husband nodded in agreement. The rector's expression was a mixture of surprise and excitement.
That ended the conversation. Jane and her husband, a railroad businessman, senator, and former governor, Leland Stanford, came to Polo Alto, Northern California, to open a university in honor of the rector's neglected sons.
Founded in honor of Leland Stanford Jr., who died in 1884 before the age of sixteen, the university is now one of the largest and leading universities in the world.
