Meg Whitman '77 declares 'it's fabulous'

Meg Whitman '77, the CEO of eBay and donor to the newly opened Whitman College, was on campus yesterday for its official dedication. She sat down with The Daily Princetonian's Ilya Blanter to talk about the college, her views on how it will affect the University, her time at Princeton and her impressions of how her alma mater has changed since she was an undergraduate.

Why did you decide to donate such a large sum of money to Princeton?

I was on the Board of Trustees at the time, and the Wythes report had indicated that it would be a good idea to increase the size of the student body. Princeton had the facilities necessary — the libraries, etc. — but not the housing. It was an opportunity that I couldn't resist.

How involved were you in the design process for Whitman?

The decision to build in Collegiate Gothic was a decision taken by the whole board. And, interestingly, there was a very hefty debate because we knew it would be more expensive to build in Collegiate Gothic, something between 15 and 20 percent more [expensive] ... But in the end, we decided that — given that we wanted Whitman to be the central part of the four-year college system in the center of campus — it did make sense to build another Collegiate Gothic dorm. And very interestingly, the four young alumni trustees on the board were the most vocal. They were dying for the Collegiate Gothic building ... I don't know if they swayed the decision, but they were very vocal.

What do you think of Whitman College now that it's complete?

It's fabulous. It really is incredible ... I love the way it is situated on the site, I love the stone, I love the different sizes of the different buildings and I love the interiors. The rooms have wood-based floors, wood frames around the doors — the attention to detail on the exterior and interior is pretty remarkable.

Is there anything that you're not happy with?

I don't think it could be any better.

You've heard that the dining hall here at Whitman has been extremely popular, to the point that other dining halls are being neglected. What is your opinion?

I have to say in some ways I'm delighted because you want a new building like this to be popular. The other thing I would say is that people ask me, "Isn't this nicer than the other buildings on campus?" And the answer is, it is, but it's also new. And in 50 years this won't be new, but something else will ... What I suspect will probably happen is that the University will say, gee, maybe we need to renovate the serveries in these other buildings to catch up. And that's a good thing because it sets a higher standard.

A big consideration when designing Whitman was privacy. Can you talk a little bit about that?

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One of the things that my husband and I felt very strongly about was to give the highest number of singles that we possibly could ... The workload here is not insignificant. Many kids are involved not only in a rigorous academic program, but they're in sports, or the arts, or the 'Prince' or whatever. You guys have a lot going on. And I am a big believer that sleep is a huge help in accomplishing what you want to accomplish. Frankly, I think if you can shut the door ... and go to bed when you want to go to bed, [it] is something that makes a big difference.

Can you talk a bit about your time at Princeton?

I made some tremendous friends. In fact, my closest female friends are still my roommates from Princeton, even though we live in different parts of the country and don't see each other all the time. What you'll find when you get out 20 years later is ... even if I haven't talked to my friends for three or four months, you get on the phone and it's like yesterday. It's pretty amazing. So I just loved everything about it.

You were a member of Cap & Gown Club. There's been a lot of debate on campus about four-year residential colleges versus eating clubs. What was your experience at your club?

[Princeton] was such a different place back in the early '70s because there were no [residential] colleges of any kind. There weren't even the two-year colleges. This was all just a loose collection of dorms. The choice you had to make as a sophomore was whether you would join an eating club, continue to eat in the big dining halls of the University or go independent. And most people chose an eating club or being independent, and so I chose an eating club. But what I liked about Whitman College and the notion of these four-year colleges is it gives one more opportunity. You can join an eating club, or you can stay in a four-year college and be part of a community.

You don't think Whitman will draw students away from the traditional Street social scene?

It might to some extent, but what I hope it will do is create another set of alternatives. There are kids who don't go to the Street [on] Thursday night and Saturday night and plenty of kids whose world does not revolve around the Street, and I hope this will give them a place for fun, for movies, for theatre, for concerts. And that may draw from a wider cross-section of the University, and that's OK. I think this is 2007, and choice and a variety of opportunities [are] a very important part of what Princeton should offer.

So you don't see the eating clubs as the primary social scene on campus?

It's hard to know because I'm not a student here today. I'm sure it's quite different for you than it was for me when I was here. I think that Princeton is a more diverse place today than when I was here. When I was here it was only 20 percent women ... There are more international students, there are more students from a variety of different economic backgrounds. What we were trying to do here is help Princeton define itself for the next 100 years. And we did feel that four-year colleges — a sort of self-contained community — could be a great social alternative, a great community building tool.

Do you think Princeton should expand further?

I think this is the really right amount for now. Who knows what it will be like in 50 or 100 years, but I think right now this seems like the right thing.