As a leading academic institution in the United States and the world, Yale University naturally had extrely high attendance requirents.
However, in Arica, everything is business, and everything is negotiable.
Travis’s and Craig’s scholarships were negotiable, and Li Wei’s full athletic scholarship was negotiable. Now that he was about to beco a top superstar in Arica—the first of his kind in NFL history—of course he could negotiate anything with Yale.
Traffic on Interstate 95 was surprisingly smooth. Ever since Li Wei had acquired the Ring of Smooth Sailing, he never seed to get stuck in traffic. Whenever he drove, his journey was always remarkably smooth, with green lights all the way.
He probably wouldn’t hit traffic even if he drove a Mazda.
The eting was attended by Edward Sterling, Yale University’s Vice Director of Undergraduate Admissions; the Dean of the School of Managent; Tony, the head coach of the football team; and Li Wei himself. The main topic of discussion was Li Wei’s attendance problem.
"According to the NFL schedule, the season runs from August to January. This ans that during these five months, I have a large number of practices, away gas, and strategy etings. I can’t guarantee attendance from Monday to Friday."
Tony nodded in support of Li Wei’s statent.
Although there were only four people at the eting, they were clearly divided into two camps: the director from admissions and the Dean of the School of Managent on one side, with Li Wei and Tony on the other.
The dean remained silent. Edward Sterling sighed, took off his glasses, and said, "Mr. Li Wei, Yale’s School of Managent is among the absolute best, on par with our Law School. Compared to the athletics departnt—"
He glanced at Tony. "My apologies, I have no intention of offending you or questioning the importance of sports, but I must ask you to understand that even if you were to dedicate yourself entirely to your studies, you would not be guaranteed to graduate from the School of Managent."
"With all due respect, Mr. Li Wei, the School of Managent places great emphasis on a student’s reputation and scholarly spirit," the Dean of the School of Managent said. "Blackstone Group founder Stephen A. Schwarzman, forr US Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William Donaldson, and Robert Rubin, who served as Secretary of the Treasury and Director of the White House National Economic Council—they are all our alumni."
He paused, looking at Li Wei and Coach Tony. "The Board of Trustees originally extended you the full scholarship offer assuming you would choose a relatively... more common major, like physical education or sociology. But since you have chosen the finance departnt within the School of Managent, as the dean, I must insist that you dedicate more of your focus to your academics."
’His implication was perfectly clear: We didn’t want to accept you, but the Board of Trustees made us. As for breaking the rules for you? Don’t even think about it.’
"Uh..." Li Wei scratched his head and looked at Edward Sterling. "If we really can’t reach an agreent, can I just switch majors?"
’What a joke. He had a two-year, 200 million USD contract; why should he have to take this crap from so dean?’
’Listening to him reel off all those nas, you’d think he was the founder of the Blackstone Group, the forr chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Director of the White House National Economic Council himself.’
"There’s no precedent for that at Yale University," Edward Sterling said, shaking his head. "The official procedure requires a one-year cooling-off period after declining an offer. You could withdraw from Yale and then reapply next year."
Li Wei scratched his head. A part of him was unwilling to just give up like that.
’Don Quixote, Anya, Elizabeth, Sebastian, even Travis and Craig—they all knew he’d gotten a full scholarship offer from Yale University. And now, after all this ti, he was supposed to tell them he wasn’t going?’
"Ahem."
Coach Tony, who had been silent on the sidelines, could finally hold back no longer.
As the head coach of the Yale Bulldogs, his standing in academic circles was far below that of the titans in front of him. But when it ca to defending his player—especially a player he himself had vehently pushed to recruit—his stance was unyieldingly firm.
"Professors," he said, leaning forward to put pressure on them. "Li Wei broke multiple national records in high school. He’s the only player to have skipped the NCAA and gone straight to the NFL."
He spoke in a grave tone. "He is the future of the NFL. Just look at him. Look at his records. The exposure he can bring Yale is worth no less than a Nobel Prize nomination, and you’re here worried about whether he can show up to sign in on a Monday morning?"
Edward and the Dean of the School of Managent exchanged a look.
"Coach Tony, I respect your expertise in the world of competitive sports, and I don’t deny the imnse comrcial value of a celebrity athlete. But please rember, this is Yale University." His gaze fixed on Li Wei through the lenses of his glasses. "This institution has produced the heads of countless family trust funds, senior officials in the United States Departnt of the Treasury, and multiple chairn of the SEC. If I, as the dean, make an exception for Li Wei, what happens tomorrow when people from the Federal Reserve, the Secretary of the Treasury, the New York Fed, the FDIC, and the White House National Economic Council co asking to make exceptions for their children? Am I supposed to do it for them, too?"
"Precisely. If we were to lower our academic standards for you simply because you’re a football star, that would be the greatest insult to Yale’s centuries-old reputation."
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