This week I was in Washington DC attending a summit hosted by the US government with at least a couple hundred university/college presidents from all over the world in attendance. I think I was the only representative from an art/design school, and eerily also was the only male not wearing a necktie. This upcoming job may require some new clothing shopping (I do plan to resist).

After the introductory panel’s remarks, the floor was opened for questions. A few people got up to ask questions about policy, and were accorded with terse but informative responses. I then got up and asked a simple question, “What role does the esteemed panel think that art and design play in economic development?” What followed was quite amazing. Each of the panelists — the Secretary of Education, the Director of the National Science Foundation, the Director of the US Agency for International Development, and so forth — wanted to get in an answer. It was unbelievable. I felt that the arts/design are such an undiscussed topic at that level of government — I sensed an opportunity for the future.

At the end of the day, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice addressed the assembly. She told us two stories, both were about her grandfather. Her grandfather was the son of sharecroppers and had set in his sights to go to college. He grew a crop of cotton and sold it to pay for his first year. At the end of the year, the administrator said that he wouldn’t be able to continue as he had no money to pay for the rest of college. Her grandfather pointed to other kids and asked how they were going to school. The administrator said, “Those boys are all going to become Presbyterian ministers and thus go for free.” To which her grandfather said to the administrator, “You know I was just thinking that I wanted to become a Presbyterian minister …”

Rice’s second story was about her grandfather and how during the Great Depression he had acquired a set of leather-bound books that were the literary classics at the time. His mother asked how much they cost and he said, “Sixty dollars.” Which at the time was a fortune but he desperately wanted to have those books as they meant a great deal to him. When Rice graduated with her PhD, her father gave her as a gift the seven remaining leather-bound books from her grandfather. My heart stopped.

The summit was certainly interesting, but Rice’s final remarks were simply inspiring. In life the goal is to be inspired, I believe. I hope you have an inspirational moment happen to you today.