The Daily Pennsylvanian sat down with Penn presidential nominee Amy Gutmann for an interview Wednesday. This is the second of two partial excerpts from the transcript.
DP: Some people have raised concerns that this position requires a lot of business experience and fundraising experience and there's the giant Health System. ... Do you think this will be a problem for you?
AG: No. First of all, I have a lot of fundraising experience. I've not been president, but there's nobody who hasn't been president who has president's fundraising experience. I created a Center for Human Values which began with zero, had nothing, and it now has a $100 million endowment, which is an endowment that's bigger than many schools have. ... I really enjoy fundraising, I enjoy putting forward a vision of something that isn't, but can be, and really inspiring people to want to contribute to it.
The things one worries about are not the basic skill set, because I'd be crazy to do this job if I had any doubt about having the skills. ... The things you worry about are the things you can't predict. ... But, I don't sit and worry about what might happen, but ... something bad could happen on campus with undergraduates.
Undergraduates work hard and play hard. I really want you all to play safe, too. And I don't have control over that. Your parents worry about that -- well, I have to worry about that for thousands of people who are going to be like my kids.
DP: What [was] your involvement at Princeton with the Athletic Department?
AG: I'm going to be the biggest fan there is of Penn athletics. I had somebody in the [Princeton] Athletic Department who does training, and I train with him and he said, "Now you're going to be the commanding general of the opposition." And that's true. Well, I'm not going to be the commanding general. ...
I'm really looking forward to meeting [Athletic Director] Steve Bilsky and actually being a fan of Penn athletics. But as importantly, I think it's really important that what we do at Penn, we do at a level of excellence. And that includes academics and athletics. And it's a great trademark of Penn to have terrific scholar-athletes. So, I'm looking forward to a lot of wins.
DP: You mentioned that you're looking forward to learning more about Philadelphia. Besides saying that you have to try a cheesesteak ...
AG: Actually I spent ... four summers of my life mainly eating Philadelphia cheesesteaks, but it wasn't the real thing, because I didn't come to Philadelphia. ... But I would order Philly cheesesteaks with my husband and we would take them to the pool with my daughter, and that's what we lived on for four summers. And look how healthy I am. I love Philadelphia cheesesteaks. They're really the most healthy thing you can eat.
DP: Is there anything else about the city you are particularly looking forward to?
AG: I think Philadelphia is a cultural center, and I love theater and dance and movies and all kinds of creative and performing arts. It's great to be in a city that has such terrific theater and performing arts, and museums as well.
DP: What do you think you're going to miss most about leaving Princeton?
AG: My friends. But, I console myself, and I think it's true: I'm only moving down the road a few miles. It's a lot easier to leave your friends when you're only going to be an hour away, and they can still come visit you. They'll just have to visit me here, because I'm not going to be going back there that much.
I have, you know, lots and lots of friends. And I love my friends. And I plan on making lots of friends here. But that's the hardest thing.
DP: Is there anything that you want to add?
AG: First, I just think it's important for you all to know that the student body is a great attraction for me coming here, and the student members of the search committee, even though they weren't there to probably be recruiters, were great recruiters. Just by being on the committee and seeing close-up Penn students, and, on top of that, what I know about Penn students. So I really want to be a presence for students. And that has always been important to me and I've managed to do that despite having a very busy schedule doing other things.
So evenings will be important to have various events. Sports events, creative arts events, things that are fun to do. To be able to talk and have fun at the same time will be something I really look forward to.
DP: Speaking of sports events, we know you don't take over until July. But in two weeks, [Penn] travels to Princeton to play basketball. ... Who will you choose?
AG: I think that it's an event that I can't possibly go to. I'm going to have to wait until next year. You'll just have to guess who I will be rooting for. It probably won't be hard to guess.
