Not directly related, but the Stanford Club of France hosted a wonderful Olympics gala tonight that included the current(?) Tree, Andrew Luck, and a number of Stanford Olympians, some with their medals! I can confirm that Andrew Luck is an amazing spokesperson for the University and athletic department--he worked the crowd, remembered details about people, and brought up the energy everywhere he went, including the end-of-night dance floor! The distinguished sponsor of the night was Jean-Etienne Amaury (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-%C3%89tienne_Amaury), MBA '07 who is the president of the Amaury Sports Organization, which (among other events) organizes the Tour de France. (More details: https://viewfromtheback.com/2023/10/29/f...ry-groupe/)
Special thanks to the president of the Stanford Club of France, Paulo Castañón (MS '96) and to all the many wonderful volunteers who hosted an international gathering of Stanford alumni for the night. They followed in the footsteps of the Stanford Club of Great Britain, who hosted an equally amazing gala for the London 2012 Olympics, and I look forward to what Los Angeles can do for the 2028 Summer Games.
Edit: I should mention, Andrew reminded us that the athletic department has embarked on a fundraising drive to help offset the new costs of ACC travel, etc., and that he would love for Stanford to beat USC, who has raised $350 million for their Big 10 immigration campaign. I believe there was a mention of a generous 1:1 matching pledge from Gene Sykes of some sort. I will post more if/when I find out the details, but Luck is charismatic, and I'm going to find details and budget for another donation.
Special thanks to the president of the Stanford Club of France, Paulo Castañón (MS '96) and to all the many wonderful volunteers who hosted an international gathering of Stanford alumni for the night. They followed in the footsteps of the Stanford Club of Great Britain, who hosted an equally amazing gala for the London 2012 Olympics, and I look forward to what Los Angeles can do for the 2028 Summer Games.
Edit: I should mention, Andrew reminded us that the athletic department has embarked on a fundraising drive to help offset the new costs of ACC travel, etc., and that he would love for Stanford to beat USC, who has raised $350 million for their Big 10 immigration campaign. I believe there was a mention of a generous 1:1 matching pledge from Gene Sykes of some sort. I will post more if/when I find out the details, but Luck is charismatic, and I'm going to find details and budget for another donation.