I recently ate dinner at Morty Schapiro’s house with some 40 or so other people for some reason or another. Before you shout “stop bragging, you jerk,” let me note that in the coming years, this will not be such a special invitation. Schapiro announced to the room that at Williams College, a school of about 2,000 students, his goal was for every student to graduate having been to his house for dinner at least once. He wants to bring this goal to Northwestern, a feat not so easily accomplished. Northwestern has more than four times the number of undergrads and his current house is not so great for hosting much more than the forty or so people that were there that night. Schapiro assured us, though, that plans were made for the renovations to the actual President’s house to accommodate his noble dream. Some students have called these renovations needless, but after spending some quality time with the big man on campus himself, I can assure you that they are happening for a reason: to better get to know the students the President works for.
Since this will soon become commonplace, I thought it might be necessary to let you, dear reader, know what it’s like before you get your inevitable invitation. The dinners have a theme for the people invited. Mine was “Seniors who were significant in Greek Life during their time at Northwestern.” Doubtful of whether I actually was significant enough to join the President for dinner, I showed up at the Foster-Walker Complex nevertheless, sporting a fraternity pin and an indomitable spirit. Shortly thereafter, a fleet of Saferides arrived to shuttle us to the President’s house in style. Nothing says “important dinner” like flashing orange lights.
When we walked through the doors, we were greeted by some friendly catering staff, nametags, and an impressive décor (the walls up the staircase were lined with framed original copies of Beatles lyrics, for example). The flow of people arriving to the dinner party naturally turned towards the hors d’oeuvres and then, of course, the bar. Soon everyone held a glass of wine in hand and was mixing and schmoozing, business casually, like pretty much every movie I’ve seen involving a reception at the White House. Schapiro, in true Gatsby style, made his appearance in the front hall maybe fifteen minutes later. After a few glasses of wine (and a beer – I was the only one to notice that they were serving beer as well. Or perhaps I was just the one classless enough to order it) we were seated in the dining room at four separate tables with an appetizer of tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. It was delicious, and a far cry from the dining hall gruel I was expecting. Apparently Sodexo doesn’t cater the President’s house.
Our gracious host then greeted us, thanked us for coming, and congratulated us for making it through four years of college. He entreated us to introduce ourselves with our names, majors, what we’re doing after college, and, inspired by some lame fraternity he’d visited a few days earlier, a “fun fact” about ourselves. This proved to be entertaining. I learned much more about the people around me than I would have had I just made small talk. Dinner came around shortly afterward – lemon glazed chicken with couscous, sweet potatoes, and green beans. Our table became great friends, loudly talking about all sorts of things Northwestern-related. Another improvement Schapiro aims to make in his new home, by the way, is fixing the acoustics in the dining room so it’s not too loud for polite conversation.
The night wound down. Desert came: mango, coconut, and lemon sorbet that inexplicably tasted awesome together. Schapiro thanked us once again and introduced us to two more traditions.
One, bidding us adieu on his lawn while walking his impossibly-fluffy dog, Lambchop. Two, giving students environmentally-friendly doggy bags to take home cookies and chocolate and whatnot, a mountain of which had been set up in the other room while we ate dinner. Thankfully, no one got stupid drunk and ruined the image of Greek life at Northwestern. That was originally my goal but I had to drive later.
This was the first time I’d met the University President, and likely the only time. After a meeting like that, though, I’m excited for Northwestern’s future with him.
Friendly, generous, and actually interested in meeting students face-to-face – I can’t imagine one better. It seems necessary for the President to be accessible to his students, and how better to do that than by wining and dining them with a smile and a fuzzy dog? You should be excited, too. Soon you could be eating couscous and reading “Yellow Submarine” with your colleagues.
Tom Hayden is a Weinberg senior. He can be reached at [email protected]. Illustration by Corinne Chin.
