Volume 3: My days in a college fraternity Chapter 152: Preparing for a Charity Dinner
"This idiot can be nominated as the party manager just by sitting here, but I'm sitting here and you just say welcome home to me? While handing me a fucking beer, you also kindly remind me to remember to donate to SSD in time?" Jason White was sitting in the meeting room of his fraternity, looking at the fraternity members sitting at the round table, and questioned in an unhappy tone.
As Charles and Eric graduated, the newly elected chairman Ian and vice chairman Ted smiled and nodded: "That's right, because your status in SSD has changed since the moment you took a leave of absence."
"What I mean is that you are a successful person in the eyes of us SSD students, Jason. We are proud of you. You are worth tens of millions now and admired by thousands of people." Tommy picked up a cigarette, lit it, and said to Jason with a smile.
Jason calmed down a little after hearing Tommy's flattery. "Very good, keep going, don't stop, Tommy. If you can keep praising me for five minutes, you will get my forgiveness."
Derek, who once partnered with Jason and won the beer bowling championship in the rookie competition, continued Tommy's words and said, "Of course, apart from the illusory market value, the biggest difference between you and us in the future is that you will not have the opportunity to participate in social activities with the sorority."
Jason had closed his eyes, hoping to hear more flattery, but his brother's words broke his psychological defenses. He slammed the table and yelled at Tommy and Derek:
"Fuck You! Derek! Fuck You! Tommy!!"
Tommy turned his head and looked at the new chairman Ian Haywood: "It is unlikely that Jason will donate to us in the short term."
Once a fraternity member leaves school, he or she will be moved to the list of departing brothers from the SSD's internal student list. Although you are still undoubtedly an SSD brother, don't expect everyone in Stanford SSD to treat you as an idiot who can be teased. You can go back to Spartan House to drink beer and attend parties at any time, but they will never contact you actively, they will not call you every weekend to ask you to come back to participate in club activities, they will no longer let you be responsible for solving a problem for a major party, perhaps designing the lighting, or transporting alcohol, or being responsible for contacting the sorority, etc. You can only attend parties, and you will no longer have the feeling of full participation in the entire party from scratch.
"Now I know the reason why you would rather use all your available time to earn credits than drop out of school. I don't know if Holly regrets it, but I regret it now. If I had worked as hard as you did, I could now compete with that idiot Derek for the position of external relations manager, and I could still... continue to be an idiot..." Jason said with a sigh.
Tommy patted Jason on the shoulder. "Don't take it personally. I just stayed a little longer with the sorority. It wasn't that long. It was just three insignificant years."
"Thank you for rubbing some delicious salt into my wounds, Tommy." Jason glared at Tommy, then said calmly:
"After learning this cruel truth, I felt that the treatments of three girlfriends every night could not make me happy. I decided to add one more, and then send the video to you, and donate a large-screen TV to play it to you 24 hours a day..."
All SSD members were also defeated after hearing about Jason's dissolute life with three girlfriends every night. At Ian's urging, Derek and another brother of the same period grabbed Jason and dragged him out of the meeting room.
The show-off of rich people is so fucking monotonous and intuitive, but so lethal.
"Including Jason, we have ten brothers leaving school this year, which means that in the upcoming opening week, there will be at least ten new faces joining. The question before us is, which big name should we use as the gimmick for this year's recruiting night? Last year it was Major General Ott, which SSD alumni who graduated from Stanford do you think should be invited to attend this year?"
"Has Mr. Gardner resigned from the Stanford University Board of Directors? How about inviting him to revisit the old place? I think he should be willing to visit the campus and SSD." Tommy mentioned a name casually.
John Gardner, a member of the SSD fraternity at Stanford University, served in the Italian branch of the United States Marine Corps Strategic Operations Office during World War II, where he was responsible for intelligence work. After the end of World War II, he joined Carnegie Corporation and became the president of Carnegie Corporation in ten years. He later received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. During the presidency of Lyndon Johnson, he served as the Secretary of Health and Education in the presidential cabinet. After leaving office, he served as a director of the Stanford University Board of Trustees and established a number of lobbying organizations, with the main lobbying direction focused on how to help the rich exempt from taxes.
Everyone was looking through the list of famous Stanford SSD graduates in their hands. Ted was the first to raise his head and give his opinion: "Tommy, I don't think Mr. Gardner is the most suitable candidate. I'm not saying he's not good enough, but he's not cool enough for newcomers, you know? Major General Ott can at least invite us to drive tanks, shoot guns, and grant us military ranks. When Mr. Gardner shows up... I always have a feeling that he is checking my homework at any time. He is very strict. When he was a school director, he would privately call the chairman of Stanford SSD every year to intimidate Charles and the previous chairmen, asking them to assure him that SSD will not cause trouble in their hands, otherwise he would be the first to disband it..."
Everyone including Ian nodded. Mr. Gardner was definitely the shadow of the SSD Stanford branch. It was certainly worth boasting that their alumni became school directors, but it was not pleasant for SSD to be subject to strict requirements because of this. Every time the school had some public welfare or charity activities, if the presence of SSD was not strong enough, Mr. Gardner would suddenly appear in the fraternity house like a villain and talk to everyone.
"That's right. The rookies walked into our territory and were originally imagining what interesting things they would see. Then Mr. Gardner told them with a stern face that he would have SSD members take out one day a week to teach literacy classes to the illiterate homeless people nearby... I guarantee that no rookie would think this is cool." Derek also added.
"How about Mr. David Gard? The roster shows that he updated his address two years ago and moved back from Hawaii to Los Altos, California. Yes, he lives in the small town next to Silicon Valley." Jason, who sneaked back, waved the roster in his hand and gave another name.
After hearing Jason's suggestion, everyone turned to David Gard's profile page. David Gard, whose real name is Donald David Gard, graduated from Stanford University in economics in 1957, was a member of the SSD Stanford University branch, and was one of the three founders of the famous American folk band Kingston Trio and the band's guitarist.
As a time traveler, Tommy had never heard of this band's album, but he knew the band's name. It can be said that its establishment led to the revival of American folk music. The first album released in 1958 sold three million copies, which scared all the music companies and directly changed the development direction of American music.
There was even a rule in the entire American nightclub industry at the time that if you wanted to make money, you had to let the resident singers learn the songs of this band.
"Cool!" Everyone except Tommy got excited.
There is nothing more attractive to rookies than getting up close and personal with their idols and talking to them.
Tommy sighed depressedly. It seemed that he would have to find another opportunity to meet Mr. Gardner. There was no other way. Mr. Gardner did not seem to be more famous than Mr. Gard, although Mr. Gardner's influence was much greater than that of Mr. Gard.
Oh, by the way, after the first year, Tommy moved out of the school dormitory, but he did not live in the fraternity house. Instead, he rented a small six-bedroom villa near Stanford University.
Occasionally Jason, Holly, Mark and Susan would come over to discuss some issues with him, and if the conversation lasted too late, they could just move into the guest bedroom.
Without work arrangements, Tommy seemed to be completely relaxed. He enthusiastically set up the venue and designed party plans with his SSD brothers. Everything in his life seemed to be back on track. And just like that, the new semester arrived.
On the recruiting night, SSD became the biggest surprise at Stanford University because of the appearance of SSD's famous alumnus, folk revivalist Mr. David Gard. Even many members of other fraternities and sororities couldn't help but run over to see their idol up close. The next day, the school newspaper "Stanford Daily" specifically reported that last night's recruiting night for the SSD Stanford branch was the most visited recruiting party in four years.
From the moment the white-haired Mr. Gard picked up his guitar, sat on a high stool, and sang the Kingston Trio's famous songs "Tom Dooley" and "500 Miles" in his weathered voice, Tommy felt that Mr. Gard was indeed a better choice than Mr. Gardner he had proposed.
He didn't even know before that "500 Miles", a song that was still sung in 2022 in the previous life, had been recorded in an album by the other party as early as 1962. The monotonous and heart-pounding guitar melody sounded, giving Tommy a strange feeling that his previous life and this life seemed to be perfectly intertwined because of this song.
The only thing that made Tommy unhappy was that when Mr. Gardner sang the song "Tom Dooley", all the SSD guys, led by Jason, directly replaced Tom Dooley with Tommy Hawke during the chorus. The reason was that if they had chosen Mr. Gardner according to Tommy's suggestion, there would definitely not be such a dazzling SSD recruitment night tonight.
So the lyrics became:
"When the sun rises tomorrow
Tommy Hawke Dies
Keep your head down, Tommy Hawke, you deserve to die
Tommy Hawke, you should be sentenced to castration as punishment
Tommy Hawke, you should be hanged from a white oak tree
Tommy Hawke..."
Mr. Gard, the folk veteran, even asked curiously why the brothers sang like that when taking a photo with Tommy. Ted kindly reported to Mr. Gard, saying that everyone present wanted to invite Mr. Gard, only the idiot Tommy opposed and proposed to invite the former director of the school. Fortunately, the SSD brothers insisted on their own opinion and allowed Mr. Gard to appear tonight.
After listening to it, Mr. Garde plucked the strings of his harp and sang with a smile:
"You deserved to die, Tommy Hawke
I'm going to cut your dick off, Tommy Hawke..."
However, for SSD, Tommy was not always in a state of deserving death. For example, before the start of the new members' induction night the next day, when Ian and Ted asked Tommy, the party manager, about the alcohol expenses and the upper limit of the event funds, Tommy bit his cigar and asked back with a domineering face:
"I can only promise that as long as there are people who can continue to drink, there will always be no limit on the supply of alcohol. Or, what is the fucking upper limit?"
"This is your most generous act, Tommy. Do you mean that you are willing to personally support part of the alcohol expenses?" Ian and Ted were very pleased with Tommy's generosity. "It was the right decision for us to choose you as the party manager."
"Of course it's the right decision, but I'm not the one paying for it. Jason will get a bill for the drinks at the end of the year." This was Tommy's shameless answer at the time:
"I must ensure that he has a strong presence in SSD in the next three years. He may not be with the brothers, and his heart may not be with the brothers, but his money must be with the brothers."
"On behalf of all the students in the Stanford chapter of SSD, thank Jason for his contribution." Ian said to Tommy sanctimoniously, "Be sincere when you thank me. Friendly reminder, remember to buy yourself some accident insurance. SSD is not responsible for any injuries or deaths of its members."
As for the new rookie joining SSD, Tommy did not choose him deliberately. He is the party manager of SSD, and there is no rush to select a successor to this position. Although the positions of party manager and external relations manager are basically easier to run for chairman and vice chairman because of more opportunities to show their talents, Tommy has no interest in managing SSD, and he is not going to hold an election to forcibly usurp the throne before Ian resigns voluntarily.
His next focus...
"SSD Stanford Chapter Veterans Association Fundraising Charity Dinner?" Ian and Ted looked at Tommy. "You mean, we'll host it this year?"
Tommy nodded. “SSD has been established for over 140 years, and the Stanford chapter has been established for over 100 years. Our chapter has never hosted it as a sponsor.”
"But we send people to participate every year, and we also donate or raise funds through various other activities every year. To be honest, Tommy, this is California, and I'm afraid you brothers won't be interested in hosting such events. We are a private university, not a military academy." Ian lowered his head and thought for a moment, then looked up at Tommy and said.
SSD holds a charity dinner every year to raise funds for veterans. The venue will also change with the organizer, but after World War II, it is mainly concentrated in Texas, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Connecticut and even Tommy's hometown of Rhode Island. The California branch has never hosted such an event, mainly because this event has been labeled as military since its first inception.
The West Point Military Academy in New York, the Naval Academy in Maryland, the Naval Academy in Rhode Island, Texas State University in Texas and other SSD chapters with a large number of military alumni are the main force in hosting such activities.
"California has the soil for hosting charity dinners. It has Hollywood, stars, and celebrities. It's no worse than New York, where West Point is located. Why can't we host it?"
"Tommy, we don't have as much funding as the other side, and more importantly, we don't have that much influence in the military. The most we can do is call on Major General Ott, the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard, but the other side can have the Secretary of Defense attend. That's the difference." Ted also spoke up:
"When Charles was here, he had considered this issue before. But after careful consideration and calculation, he calculated that based on the charity dinner ticket price of $1,000, Major General Ott could only sell 30 invitations at most, which is 30,000 dollars. This number can only make us a laughing stock. The lowest fundraising record of West Point Military Academy is 180,000, which is six times higher than ours."
The so-called charity dinner is to sell tickets at high prices and donate the proceeds to the veterans association.
You need to make those wealthy living SSD alumni, or ordinary people who want to attend, willingly pay for your tickets, and then have a close chat with the big shots attending the charity dinner and take a photo with them, which you can use as bragging capital in the future.
For the Stanford chapter, the difficulty lies in how to invite big names who can make rich people buy tickets, while at the same time convincing all the living alumni of the SSD General Association.
For example, you can't invite Jim Carter, the former president who was willing to support you for money, who strongly advocated racial equality and black participation in politics, and even hung a picture of Martin Luther King in the Capitol. If you invite this kind of person, SSD's own brothers can directly blow up the charity dinner with explosives without any outside guests.
Invite a few big names in the computer industry to attend the meeting. Members of the SSD branches of military academies will not send anyone to attend the meeting. They are not interested in paying out of their own pockets to learn about the history of computer development.
So every year, Charles Salmon would bring two or three rookies to this event, contribute three to five thousand in ticket money, and then hand over the funds raised by his own branch through various activities, and finally take some photos as a souvenir.
"I mean, if you have no objection, I will ask Jason from the EFF to donate a sum of $500,000 for the dinner in the name of alumni, and then design the entire charity dinner plan around the cost of $500,000."
"Jason is damn lucky to have a brother and boss like you, Tommy. If you had said earlier that you would pay half a million, we wouldn't have wasted so much time talking." Ian was stunned for a while after hearing what Tommy said, and then he said to Tommy unhappily:
"No wonder Charles told me to ignore that idiot Tommy before he resigned. The Brotherhood is just like Troja to him. He puts it on when he wants to use it and throws it in a drawer when he doesn't. What are you doing? Are you planning to sell the veterans as commodities?"
Tommy looked at Ian dissatisfiedly. "I'm not selling out veterans. I just want to expand my interpersonal relationships. It's also good for SSD. Don't look at me like that. I donated half a million dollars in real money. This kind of dinner is as big as the White House charity dinner, not to mention West Point. And it's held during the tenure of you and Ted, two idiots. It's enough for you two to brag about it to death. This is an honor that Charles didn't have when he was in office."
Ted raised his middle finger at Tommy and said, "First, the money has to arrive in the account, then you write the plan, we will sign it for you, and then submit it to the headquarters. Go away. By the way, remember to write Ian and I in front of your name on the plan, idiot."
"That's a good suggestion." Ian and Ted high-fived each other. "Remember to call and motivate Charles."
Tommy gave the two of them the middle finger and then walked out of the meeting room.
…
Sophia drove the Tiffany Blue Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham she had just bought with her scholarship, and looked through the rearview mirror at Tommy, who was sitting in the back seat flipping through a pile of old newspapers:
"You and Renee broke up, right? I mean, in this case, you are still planning to... let her father help you design the overall plan of the charity dinner, and give you some discounts because you dated his daughter?"
Tommy flipped through dozens of newspapers in his hand, mainly the Army Times, Navy Times, Air Force Times and Marine Corps Times under the American Newspaper Group. Hearing Sophia's words, he said without raising his head:
"No one told me that I couldn't take care of my girlfriend's father's business after breaking up with her. Uh... By the way, remember to call Renee and ask her to take away the clothes she left at my place a few nights ago. If she doesn't, I'll treat her as a maid for my villa."
"Didn't you break up? Didn't you say she had a new boyfriend?" Sophia opened her eyes in disbelief: "You are... together again?"
Tommy would occasionally find a piece of news and circle it with a marker: "No, it's just that a guy from the School of Geology is pursuing her, and Renee wants me to give her some advice as her ex-boyfriend, based on my performance in various aspects and some comparisons with the other party. But when we talked about it later, the topic got a little in-depth..."
"Let's change the subject, Tommy. I don't want to listen anymore. So when the new semester starts, what do you want me to do for you?" Sophia had been away from Tommy for a whole summer, and she was almost getting used to the normal human thinking again. Until the start of the school year, that bastard Tommy came to her again.
Tommy responded while being busy all the time: "Go meet Mr. Benjamin Moore and explain our needs. Ask him to come up with an overall design plan for the charity dinner. Then contact Delia and ask her to call my residence after get off work. I have some questions to discuss with her in Washington. Call Senator Pete Wilson's office and ask him when he is free. I want to visit him. That's the arrangement for today."
"Then you could have just... called me and told me about the arrangements instead of having me drive over here," Sophia said, holding the steering wheel.
"Pick me up on the way to class. My residence is five kilometers away from the school. Otherwise, why do you think I strongly recommended you to buy a car, and even took the time out of my busy schedule to accompany you to choose a car? Miss Sophia O'Connor? You can just park in front." Tommy raised his head, glanced at the environment outside, and put the newspaper in his hand on the back seat:
"Don't move the newspaper, and then after school let's drive back to my place. I'm going to continue reading the newspaper. I wish you a happy day."
Sophia slowly stopped the car and looked ahead: "I wish you a happy day like me, Tommy Bastard Hawke. I don't have time this afternoon. I have to go..."
"Los Angeles." Tommy put down the newspaper, looked at Sophia, and suddenly interrupted her to say the name Los Angeles.
Sophia didn't respond: "Wat?"
"What do you think about going to Los Angeles for two days on your birthday with Susan, Jason, Holly and your other friends? I remember you once mentioned to Holly that you wanted to visit Universal Studios. We can fulfill this little wish on your birthday." Tommy gave Sophia an inquiring look.
Sophia took a few deep breaths. "Don't tempt me. I won't be fooled, Tommy."
"So?" Tommy opened the car door, but did not rush to get out. He waited for Sophia's response.
Sophia lowered her head: "Yes, actually I'm not very busy in the afternoon."
"See you this afternoon." Tommy got out of the back seat and walked towards the campus. "By the way, when you call Delia, ask her to ask Pinkerton for me. Ask those ruthless guys who can stay up late to recommend two bodyguards and drivers who are good at fighting and look intimidating. They should work on a rotating basis and the price should not be too high. If the salary is too high, you can only continue to work part-time and repeat the employer's requirements."
"They can help you take a beating, they can beat others for you, and most importantly, the pay is the lowest." Sophia concluded succinctly.
Tommy turned and walked away: "It would be best if they were retired veterans. I happen to be busy raising funds for veterans recently, and providing jobs for two retired veterans is also a plus."
