Free Cookies for the Faculty?
Once upon a time, in a dark era of hardship, lost riches and budget cuts, the Faculty resolved to make a noble sacrifice: forego cookies at their monthly meeting.
Hearing of their gloomy plight, one kind stranger wrote to us with this idea:
“I normally don't do this sort of thing, but I read the article […] in the Harvard Crimson just at the moment I was contemplating that I needed to do more things in my life that I really enjoy. One of those things would be baking treats for others. What do you think about me supplying some baked goods for the next faculty meeting for free?"
FlyBy decided we had to make this happen. Would the Faculty accept this unusually sweet offer? Find out after the jump.
In her email, Anna Yun, a mental health counselor at South Bay Mental Health Center in Boston with no apparent connection to Harvard, offered to make “pumpkin muffins, sour cream coffee cake, [or] coconut cream pie” (her specialty) for the next faculty meeting. The reason? None, except “that it would make me happy and hopefully make the faculty meeting more fun.”
Alas, when we brought the proposal to Faculty Arts and Sciences Dean Michael D. Smith, he gave this heartfelt—but sadly disappointing—reply:
“Ms. Yun has made a very kind and generous offer, and I would want her to know that I am touched that she has offered her time, energy, and money to make our faculty meetings a little brighter. We choose to forego cookies at our faculty meetings as part of our larger effort to live within our new budgetary reality. Unsurprisingly, this amenity was less important to our mission than, say, maintaining financial aid for one more needy student. We certainly didn't eliminate cookies in the hope that someone else would pay for this amenity. The FAS is, of course, not unique in having to adjust in these difficult financial times, but the future certainly looks brighter knowing that individuals like Ms. Yun clearly care about helping others that they have never met.”
Ah, well. Can’t say we didn’t try to do some good in this world.