Josh Fortmann | Contributing Writer

From the moment Dr. Condoleezza Rice first strolled elegantly onto the stage at the afternoon lecture session, I knew that a splendid evening awaited me. She took the stage with the casual confidence of a woman who had commanded much more imposing and influential seats than most of us could ever dream of reaching. The panelists had prepared a widely varied and remarkably well-thought out selection of questions for her, and she answered each with confidence, intelligence, and eloquence.

While many of the questions were beyond the political comprehension of a simple biology major, I could not help but be impressed by the poise with which every participant in the panel held themselves. After a particularly poignant final question by Jonathan Ehrlich, the lecture concluded and the panelists left the stage to an enthusiastic applause. At this point we entered into the only point of the evening which was less than spectacular.

The reception, for which I served as a greeter, was held in the forum. While the food and atmosphere was friendly and inviting, the limited space and perplexing layout led to a fair amount of confusion and jostling amongst the guests despite the best efforts of staff and students. In the end though, everyone got where they needed to go and everything transitioned smoothly into dinner.

The dinner was wonderful. It was one of those very rare times where the speakers took exactly the amount of time they needed; the “See Tomorrow” campaign was successfully announced and presented for the sake of the donors; and Dr. Rice was once again called forward to address the crowd. While she had been an impressive speaker at the earlier session, dinner was where we got to see her be charming. She flawlessly answered the host of questions that had been assembled for her, and managed to seamlessly integrate a number of amusing and heartfelt anecdotes in her discussion. She once again exited the stage to uproarious applause, and the long awaited announcement for dinner came.

The food was absolutely exquisite, I would struggle to remember a meal that I enjoyed more; it was all I could do not to ask the chef for the recipe for his delectable lemon berry cake. The dinner concluded amongst an atmosphere of friendly discussion between donors, faculty, staff, and students; after a short walk back to my room, an absolutely spectacular evening came to an end.

Photo courtesy of University Marketing and Communications