10
Oops!
He hated being president. I refer to A. Bartlett Giamatti. He was president of Yale University for 10 years.
Giamatti was a true scholar. That's all he cared about. But he knew that being president of a great university meant soliciting wealthy alumni for gifts. That's the part of the job he detested the most.
One of the people he is to call on is Fay Vincent. Vincent is a very wealthy alum. They are meeting for the first time.
Before the visit, the fundraising staff at Yale prepare the president for the meeting. For one thing, they tell the president that his father and Fay Vincent's father were classmates at Yale. They also give him a huge file of background information.
The president knows he has to call on Vincent. He dreads the visit. It is the worst part of Giamatti's job, but he understands how important it is. The appointment is made. I take you now to Fay Vincent's office. They sit around a small conference table in an office lined with books. Sipping coffee. Giamatti finally screws up his courage.
“Fay, I know you love the Law School at Yale. I'd like to talk with you this morning about making a substantial gift to the Law School.”
Fay Vincent lets him go on for four or five minutes. Then he stops him. “Before you came down here from New Haven today, Bart, did you do some research on me?”
“Well…well, certainly. Of course.”
“I assume there was someone from your research department at the university who did a little paper on me?”
“Actually, it isn't a little paper. ...
