Campus Perspectives

Celebrating Stanford’s Scholar-Athlete Heritage

The Stanford community, from students to faculty, has a symbiotic relationship with athletics. Here, sports play an essential role in sustaining a strong classroom environment. Athletics and academics are not perceived as independent entities, but rather two parts of a cooperative dynamic that fosters a commitment to excellence. Read more »

Making DAMN Good Decisions: How We Can Use a Well-Tuned Gut Feel to Seize Opportunities and Manage Risks by Burke Robinson We choose to pursue available opportunities in competitive sports, business investments, public affairs, or personal relationships because they lead to desirable rewards. These opportunities, however, almost always come with significant risks – some that we anticipate, others that catch us by surprise. On the flip side, every risk that we encounter will also interweave with ...
Reverent and Reluctant by Joanne Sanders I arrived at Stanford University and the Office for Religious Life ten years ago, a freshly ordained Episcopal priest and recent Divinity School graduate. Embarking on a new path and embracing, at the supposedly enlightened age of 40, a life transforming response to heed a relentless nudge toward a religious vocation – I came – ...
The Stanford Family by Julie Lythcott-Haims, '89 Athletics at Stanford is unique. When I have the chance to speak with prospective student-athletes about what distinguishes Stanford from its peer institutions, our prominence in NCAA Division I athletics immediately springs to mind.
For Love of the Game: The Club Sports Perspective by Kate Johnson, '11 Stanford Club Sports As they pass into the tiny coastal town of Davenport, cars turn off of California’s Highway 1 into a gravel parking lot, following the intoxicating aroma of cinnamon sugar. I stand my bike against a table outside the bakery and pull my cell phone from my pocket. “Davenport,” I tap out slowly. “Mile sixty-five.” The ...
The Mindset of a Champion by Carol Dweck There are things that distinguish great athletes—champions—from others. Most of the sports world thinks it’s their talent, but I will argue that it’s their mindset. This idea is brought to life by the story of Billy Beane, told so well by Michael Lewis in the book Moneyball (Lewis, 2003). When Beane was in high school, ...
Game On: Writing and Athletics as Rhetorical Performance by Marvin Diogenes & Kelly Myers Stanford Program in Writing and Rhetoric Some Facts: Two teams are on the court and the game is ending. The score is tied. One woman tries to score, twice, but fails. The other team scores and wins the game. Some Details: March 29, 2010. The Stanford and Xavier women’s basketball teams face each other in the Elite 8. The score is ...
Reconstruction: Another Way by Bisi Ibrahim, '11 Stanford Women's Rugby “We can reconstruct your nose, break your upper jaw and widen it, and remove a portion of the back of your throat.” He shook my head like a rag doll with each mention of a body part and jabbed a tongue depressor at the skin above the areas in question as if they were already ...
Familiar Lessons from an Unfamiliar Sport by Sam Svoboda, '11 Stanford Hurling Team Looking back on my three-plus years at Stanford so far, it’s almost ridiculous to see how much of my experience here has been defined by athletics. For example, many of my favorite memories- like charging the field after our Big Game victory in 2007- revolve around being a fan.
Jumping on the Bandwagon: How I Unexpectedly Became a Fan by Lindsey Jean Smith, '11 Who would have thought that when Stanford beat USC 37-35, on October 9, 2010, I would have stood in the stands and cried for joy?