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“[He] was the first person ever to speak in my presence of how an individual could make a difference; how a single caring person can effectively help determine the course of events. I had not heard that before, really, and he put it forward in such a persuasive way that I think most of us came to believe it might be true, and to take seriously the notion that we could make a difference.”
- Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, May 2003 View the entire lecture, including the Q&A, below or download it from iTunes U.
Daily Inspiration
A poignant letter in the Stanford Daily sparked the tradition.
Harry Rathbun, BA ’16, ENG ’20, LLB ’29, a Stanford Law School professor from the 1930s through the 1950s, was reading the paper one day and was struck by a letter from a graduating student. He wrote that he feared going out into a world he didn’t understand. Professor Rathbun later recalled, “I had to tell those kids that the meaning of life was up to them, that no teacher and no school and nobody else could hand it to them like a diploma.”
So, he decided to devote the last lecture of his business law class that spring term to a discussion on the meaning of life. An annual tradition was born and over the years “Harry’s Last Lecture” grew so popular, it had to be held in Memorial Auditorium to handle the crowds that turned up to hear it. When Professor Rathbun retired from teaching in 1959, so did the annual lecture – until today.
Thanks to a significant gift to the Office for Religious Life by the Foundation for Global Community, the lecture returns to inspire current generations of Stanford students. The gift endowed a new fund called the Harry and Emilia Rathbun Fund for Exploring What Leads to a Meaningful Life, named in honor of the late professor and his late wife. The activities supported by the fund will encourage self-reflection and moral inquiry, the new visiting fellow program serving as the centerpiece.
A Supreme Honor
In its inaugural year, The Honorable Sandra Day O’Connor, BA ’50, LLB ’52, former Associate Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court, has accepted the honor to serve as the first Rathbun Visiting Fellow. While an undergraduate student at Stanford, Justice O’Connor took Professor Rathbun’s class and oftentimes attended gatherings at the Rathbuns’ Palo Alto home, where students came to discuss ethics, psychology, and religion. In countless interviews and also in her book, Lazy B, she has credited Professor Rathbun for showing her that the law could be an instrument of positive social change so that she ultimately applied to Stanford Law School, was accepted, and thus shaped the course of her life.
Over the course of her three-day visit to Stanford April 20 to 22, 2008, Justice O’Connor will participate in a variety of intimate forums with students, faculty, alumni, and local community members to discuss personal values, beliefs, and motivations. These interactions with students will draw from her reflections on personal themes such as growing up in a ranching community, committing to lifelong public service, maintaining personal health, and pioneering women’s professional roles. Her visit will conclude on Tuesday, April 22, when she will deliver her own version of “Harry’s Last Lecture on a Meaningful Life,” discussing how purpose and values lead to a happy and fulfilling life.
The lecture will be held in Stanford Memorial Church and begin at 8:00 p.m. Admittance is free and available to Stanford students, faculty, and staff by picking up a ticket in-person at the Tresidder Memorial Union Ticket Office.
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