NEW YORK: 2017 Boat Race Dinner

The New York City Boat Race Dinner was held for the first time ever at the Cosmopolitan Club on East 66th Street in NYC. The venue and food and wine (esp. the La Petite Perrière Sauvignon Blanc) were highly appreciated.
Below the program are the versions of their speeches by speakers who have sent them to me.

Toast to the Queen

Introduction by John Tepper Marlin (Trinity, Oxford):  Bennett Freeman earned a summa cum laude degree in history from Berkeley, following which he was awarded a Churchill Scholarship from the English-Speaking Union to read history at Balliol.

After Oxford, Bennett worked for Walter Mondale and from there spent eight years as manager of corporate affairs for General Electric. Bill Clinton swept him into the State Department where for four years he worked on human rights, developing a standard for oil and mining industries, and helping to recover millions of dollars for the families of Holocaust victims.

In the next nine years of his life he was senior vice president of Calvert Investments, the largest source of socially responsible mutual funds. Ladies and gentlemen, Bennett Freeman.

Bennett Freeman (Balliol, Oxford): Thanks to my friend John Tepper Marlin for that generous introduction. I’ve known John — and his wife Alice Tepper Marlin — for three decades and have had the privilege of learning from them over the years as a fellow traveler in the world of corporate responsibility and sustainability.

Our remarks this evening can’t be political and mine certainly won’t be.  But I can’t resist noting that the General Election has just been called and wondering if the Prime Minister is taking a risk by asking the British electorate to vote for May… in June.

Our two great ancient universities have instilled in us a respect for tradition as well as for innovation in a time of disruption.  And our time in Great Britain — whether it is our country or not — has instilled in us a respect for the institutions and the individuals that anchor that tradition.

Since Victoria queens and kings have reigned rather than ruled. But this Queen commands our singular respect.  Walter Bagehot famously observed of the monarchy that “Its mystery is its life” and advised that “we must not let in daylight upon magic.”

Yet Queen Elizabeth has let in the daylight to reveal that her magic is not mysterious but almost comprehensible — even though her durability is nothing less than supernatural.

Her decency and probity are the virtues that will sustain us in this era of uncertainty and insecurity. Her wisdom and her discretion give her a quiet authority to which we can all aspire whatever our cause, our work or our walk of life.

Please join me in being upstanding…

The Queen!

Other 2017 Boat Race News . College VIIIs . Summer VIIIs Dinners 2017