04-25-2025, 11:17 AM
According to the Stanford Alumni Association, "An alum is defined as a person who has attended Stanford University as a student for at least three quarters in a degree-earning program." #1 on the list never attended Stanford, although he was admitted but did not enroll. I'm pretty sure #2 on the list does not meet those criteria. I have my doubts about #9 but am too lazy to look it up or go any further down the list.
Re: your questions, I would say that all of the listed athletes have an impact--although I'm not sure how great--on Stanford's brand, except for John McEnroe (one and done) and Bill Walton (did not play varsity sports at Stanford). Not sure why Jim Plunkett is not mentioned, so maybe the list has some recency bias, which is not necessarily a bad thing. And yes, it's worth saving athletics at Stanford IMO.
Re: your questions, I would say that all of the listed athletes have an impact--although I'm not sure how great--on Stanford's brand, except for John McEnroe (one and done) and Bill Walton (did not play varsity sports at Stanford). Not sure why Jim Plunkett is not mentioned, so maybe the list has some recency bias, which is not necessarily a bad thing. And yes, it's worth saving athletics at Stanford IMO.
If there's one thing people have learned in Berkeley, it's that you can't put "Cal football" and "Rose Bowl" in the same sentence. The words just don't fit. You'd be better off linking "covered wagons" with "Mars travel." (Bruce Jenkins, Cal '70, SF Chronicle, Nov. 11, 2017)