‘It’s Modern Design’: Why Stanford Students Walked Out at Sundar Photosi’s Inauguration

EVA JONES: I’m a recent graduate, having studied hydrology and water for a master’s degree, but I also did my bachelor’s there, in feminism and freshwater engineering.

I came to Stanford five years ago now, from a rural town in Oregon, because I really believe that a place like Stanford is looking to unite ideas and resources to eliminate the threats that exist for people, to create a world that I always thought could be possible, connected, united.

I’m interested, Amanda, you talked about how you had students prepare, but I want to hear from all of you about this. How did you go from being a student to being a campus activist and organizer?

Jones: I came to Stanford as a student organizer. I belonged to a generation of students who were part of organizing climate justice, anti-violence, people who came to university ready to use their voice, thinking it was a way to create the future.

Soon after I arrived at Stanford, I joined an anti-prostitution group, which quickly brought me into conflict with the authorities.

By the year 2023, when the student camps in solidarity with Palestine began, that was something that we saw many students participating and coming together to create something more than just protest. It was a great moment where we explained why we came back to university on our own, why we came to study, and what we wanted to do with it.

Fields: I say that, unlike Eve, I certainly did not come to Stanford as a student to organize, but I very quickly became one because it was important.

But more than that, I came back a little bit unconsciously thinking about Stanford as this place where I can create solutions for the environment, where I can help people.

I saw the power of education, the power of a Stanford degree as a way to do that. But I think my perspective on energy has definitely changed, mostly through planning. I used to see power as something to gain from, and now I see it as something to build, that we all have through our words.

Participating in the SJP program, for me, has been very liberating. I have a lot of hope in the student body.

Theo Baker has a new book out, I don’t know if any of you have read it, he was invited How to Rule the World. It describes Stanford as what you all say, the way to work in technology and Silicon Valley, a place with a lot of passion, innovation, VCs looking for talent, and a lot of mistakes by students and teachers and administrators. Does this book resonate with you?

Jones: I have concerns about someone who wants to explain his work by participating in the food preferences of American culture and what is happening at the top universities. I think it really distracts from the real things that are going on, which, in many ways, are the pipelines for security at these universities and in Silicon Valley, at these companies that run deep with the oil of really violent technologies and regulatory systems.