Letter from the Directors
When you were 25 years old, did you have a mentor who helped you discover that you could do great things? Every year, more Stanford students visit us on Salvatierra Walk, their passions inspired by high school projects, families and mentors, or friends on campus. Our new Peter E. Haas faculty co-directors, Larry Diamond and Julie Kennedy, are fabulous mentors—which is in part why they decided to accept responsibility for the Haas Center. I want to share with you some insights regarding their individual approaches to our work and how they have inspired young people to explore different public service paths.
Larry Diamond: “It’s a two-way street.”
You can learn a lot about Larry Diamond ’73
(Individually-designed major), AM ’78 (Food Research), PhD ’80 (Sociology) from
his relationship with Stanford in Government (SIG). SIG, founded in 1963, is
the oldest student organization affiliated with the Haas Center and one of the
oldest on campus. Larry has served as a faculty advisor to SIG for more than a
decade, and is dedicated to bringing students in touch with policymakers.
Examples of SIG speakers include Madeline Albright, William Perry, Henry Kissinger,
and Charles Ferguson, the director of the Academy-Award nominated No End in
Sight and, very recently, Inside Job. But more than his connections, Larry’s
most valuable contribution to SIG is his role as a mentor to students.
Larry has served as a mentor to Valentin Bolotnyy ’11 (Economics/International Relations), SIG’s current chair. Born in Ukraine, Valentin immigrated to the US in 1997 with his family, knowing that he wanted to do something to better society. Upon arriving at Stanford, he looked for a place to channel his interest in public service, and joined SIG his sophomore year. “Larry and I share a deep commitment to the international fellowships program,” he explains, “and are constantly looking to expand and reevaluate it.” Their relationship is a dynamic one, as Larry says “It’s a two-way street: sometimes he comes to me, and sometimes I go to him.” If history is any guide at all, this mutuality, based on openness and frankness, will no doubt continue long after Valentin graduates in June.
Julie Kennedy: “Students are hungry for knowledge.”
Like Larry, Julie Kennedy PhD ’92 (Geology) has had a long
relationship with a student group on campus. For more than a decade, she has
advised Students for a Sustainable Stanford (SSS). Sustainability isn’t an easy
concept to define. It has social, environmental, and economic dimensions.
“Thinking about ways to make Stanford more sustainable has lots of moving
parts,” Julie explains. Simply put, sustainability at Stanford and beyond
involves providing for present needs while simultaneously considering the needs
of those who will come after us.
Like SIG, SSS has roots that stretch back to the 1960s, though in its present iteration SSS has just celebrated its 10th anniversary. The group moved into new space at the Haas Center this fall, conveniently located close to Julie’s new office. Julie serves on SSS’s Board of Advisors, which met for the first time last month in the state-of-the art sustainable Yang and Yamazaki Environment and Energy building (Y2E2 in Stanford parlance). Julie was impressed by the interactive and lively discussion among assembled faculty, staff, students, and alumni. Molly Oshun ’11 (Environmental Engineering), who serves as a co-president of SSS, was one of those students.
“We came to SSS with passion, but Julie has helped us refine and improve our strategy,” Molly explains. “We can work on educating students or work on a big project, such as a green dorm.” The two aren’t mutually exclusive, but determining the right balance between activities and educational outreach is critical to the mission of SSS. “Why should students turn off the lights in their dorms if they are not charged for electricity?” Julie asks. “If they understand the ‘why,’ they are much more likely to do the ‘what’.”
The next five years
Many forces are aligning that make this an exciting time for public service at Stanford. We have a new strategic plan, dynamic faculty leadership, and a campus-wide dialogue regarding the Study of Undergraduate Education at Stanford. As Larry and Julie help guide student leaders at Stanford, so will our new strategic plan guide us at the Haas Center over the next five years (and beyond). Among our goals are to inspire and teach civic leadership competencies among our students. Larry and Julie, other faculty and staff at the Haas Center, and our more than 11,000 alumni will be instrumental in this effort.
Help us continue Stanford’s public service tradition
You, too, are instrumental in the future of public service at Stanford, as you have been over the last 25 years since our founding. As President Hennessy said in his speech to the Class of 2014 this fall, public service is a Stanford tradition, started by Jane and Leland Stanford and continued today by faculty like Larry and Julie, and students like Valentin and Molly. Help us support their work and their passions by making a gift today. Your gift to the Haas Center will have a profound impact well into the future.
Thank you.
PS: No matter what the size, your gift will help us support the public service projects of students and faculty as we begin the next 25 years at the Haas Center!
