America 1982-Chapter 74 - 29: William Lewis

"Professor Gavin Rad would like to talk with you, Miss Farell, and Dennis and Pam,"

Inside the principal’s office, after Tommy Hawk submitted his request to stop accompanying the team in the upcoming summer camp activities, Principal Mendes did not refuse but mentioned another matter.

As he spoke, he picked up a card from the desk and then handed it to Tommy, who was about to leave.

Gavin Rad was the Princeton University professor from the School of Public and International Affairs who showed interest in the summer camp.

"I guess he might be here to help answer the only question about this summer camp that still baffles me," Tommy said with a smile, taking the phone number from the principal.

It was a Four Seasons Hotel card in Providence, and following the address, Tommy, Ottelia, Dennis, and Pam drove over in Dennis’s family’s second-hand muscle car.

The question that puzzled them was why a Princeton University professor would know about their summer camp, be willing to participate, and do so without compensation.

They had already met the young professor Gavin Rad when he lectured at Lincoln High School. At forty-two, he was one of the youngest and least experienced professors at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs and had treated Tommy Hawk, Ottelia, and the others the same as the rest of the students, without any distinction or special attention.

According to the meeting set at the Four Seasons Hotel café by Professor Rad, when the four arrived, they saw Gavin Rad already sitting with a sixty-something-year-old black man who had lost most of his hair, leaving only some graying hair at the temples and the back of his head, waiting at the reserved booth. When the four appeared at the café entrance, the attentive Gavin Rad and the black man both stood up from a distance.

Ottelia scrutinized the black man and suddenly let out a low exclamation, "Oh my God!"

"Do you know him?" Tommy asked, seeing Ottelia’s reaction.

Ottelia whispered to Tommy, "If I’m not mistaken, my godfather took me to his lecture—he is..."

The black man did not give Ottelia a chance to finish; he walked over briskly, smiling broadly, and extended his hand to Tommy Hawk: "Hello, Tommy Hawk."

"Hello, sir?" Tommy shook his hand and glanced at Ottelia and the smiling Gavin Rad next to him; both seemed to know the identity of the black man.

Only when he turned to Dennis and Pam, who had the same unknowing reaction as himself, did Tommy feel slightly relieved that there were still people as clueless about the current situation as he was.

The black man’s hand was strong; he held Tommy’s hand firmly with one hand and gently patted the back of Tommy’s hand with the other, pulling Tommy to sit next to him: "Let me introduce myself, my name is William Lewis, a professor of political economy at Princeton University."

Seeing that the three high school students showed not the slightest sign of shock, Professor Gavin Rad next to them couldn’t help but add to the introduction, "Sir William Lewis, a professor of political economy at Princeton, recipient of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, the first black professor at Princeton University, as well as the world’s first black scholar to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. He is also my mentor, and the reason for my presence at this summer camp."

Gavin Rad’s addition caused Tommy Hawk’s face to show an expression that was the very image of shock. Although he had never heard of this elderly black man’s name, he had heard of the Nobel Prize.

Even Dennis and Pam were somewhat stunned on the spot. Even the least educated students had heard of this world-renowned award.

"I had always wanted to confirm my schedule to teach a class at your summer camp, but the transition work involved in my retirement was quite tedious. By the time I finished, your first session of the summer camp had already ended," William Lewis said, looking at Tommy and the others, who sat there in a daze, and smilingly added.

"Mr. Allen Lewis, the Governor of Saint Vincent? Is he your relative?" Tommy suddenly had a thought and asked.

The elderly black man smiled and nodded. "He is my older brother."

"No wonder Prime Minister Madoff always said he wasn’t the smartest man in Saint Vincent. So, was all of this your design from the beginning?" Tommy took a deep breath and said, "The Governor asked me to pass on his regards to you."

With the Nobel laureate’s explanation, everything became clear.

"No, it wasn’t design, just a coincidence. Madoff and my brother would occasionally phone me, hoping I could help Saint Vincent secure the aid funding that the United States was supposed to deliver, as well as bring American attention to the issues faced by sugar factory workers. But politics lacks care and sympathy. I’m just an ordinary professor teaching at Princeton University, a non-American resident scholar living in the United States—a man like me can’t change anything. My personal social status can’t increase my homeland’s presence in the world," William Lewis told Tommy.

"And just then, the only high school in Saint Vincent got a call from an American high school asking to jointly organize a summer camp. When my brother told me about it, he treated it as a mere game, but I saw it as an opportunity. In Princeton, we believe that students can drive social development and change more quickly than adults. After all, our country couldn’t get any worse, so why not let the students give it a shot."

Tommy Hawk thought for a moment and then replied, "You looked up Lincoln High School and the summer camp, found out we were too inferior to deserve the name of the summer summit, so you gave the camp the opportunity to be associated with a name like Princeton to attract real elite high school students."

"No, I was just worried that Lincoln High School wouldn’t offer much support, and that your plans would be aborted, which is why I had Gavin make the call," William Lewis shook his head, correcting Tommy’s statement. "From the moment you came up with the idea for the college entrance strategy, you were already undisputable youth elites in my eyes."

Dennis spoke up straightforwardly, "Professor, so to thank us for all we’ve done for your country, are you going to recommend us for admission into Princeton University? Preferably with a full scholarship, waiving all tuition and fees, that kind."

"I can’t believe I might actually have the chance to go to Princeton," Pam said almost excitedly. "I wonder how the difficulty of hacking the TVs at Princeton compares to our high school?"

"No, actually, I’ve retired from Princeton. Saint Vincent is going to join with Barbados and Saint Lucia to establish a university, and I’m going to help with the very early stages of setting it up," William Lewis said with a laugh, dousing their hopes. "If you want to go to university, I can have the new university send you admission notifications, as I will be the first chancellor."

Tommy exhaled, "No, thank you. We’re not planning on studying abroad for the time being."

"My brother said you were going to help Tommy, Dennis, Pam, and the other students by writing them recommendation letters to get them into Princeton University. They are America’s best children and deserve the best university in America, this country owes them, and we must help them accomplish their wishes," William Lewis said slowly.

"But I don’t think so. You are the best high school students, but what the best university is, is up to you. You should go to a university you like, not let us old people define what an excellent university is for you. I will not write recommendation letters for you. However, in my last paper of my teaching career in America, before my name, I will put all of your names. That way, when the universities you apply to call me, wondering about this, I can tell them in an even more sincere way about everything you did for my paper, for my homeland, and I can tell that university that they are the best high school in the eyes of the best high school students."