Nash Up

It's really incredible how much goes on around us to which most of us are absolutely and 100 percent oblivious. It's a sentiment played on repeat by the administration (and overzealous freshmen) during our four years here. From surprise guest speakers (Karl Rove in the Whitman Dining Hall, anyone?) to the hypothetical monkey lab (has anyone actually been there?), the strangest and most enchanting people are constantly whizzing around our campus while we go about our rather mundane lives, paying library fines and making sure we have passes to the club du jour.

So why all the fuss? Today, sitting in the gallery at Frist, was John Nash. The John Nash played by Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind. (Which strangely comes to mind more quickly than his Nobel Prize or invention of Game Theory).

He just sat there, eating, minding his own business. (I can't even begin to imagine what that might be). A few people turned to look at the older man, sitting by himself at one of the largest tables by the window. A few girls made skeptical faces. I only saw three people look at him in delighted awe. At least some knew they were in the presence of academic genius.