Not even two years into his tenure, Marc Tessier-Lavigne already has his own campus shrine. Stanford’s 11th president never asked for one, mind you; it was the staff of Mars House that took the initiative, branding their dorm Mars Tessier-Lavigne.
The banner that spells out the name above the front door raises eyebrows. The Canadian flags throughout the house (Tessier-Lavigne was born in Ontario) draw laughs. But the sheer ubiquity of the president’s face, with cutouts mischievously added to portraits and wall paintings in every common room in the house, can be downright unnerving. The residents of Mars, however, are not complaining: Their efforts resulted in a winter-quarter visit from Tessier-Lavigne himself, who showed up for dinner and good conversation.
