Although the Northwestern community should certainly be proud that we fleeced Mung Chiang,
now the President-Elect of our University, away from Purdue, some may be saddened to
learn about some of the other names that were in the running for the position. Similarly to how
the Heavenly Sovereign Schill was only the 18th pick to run Northwestern, Mung Chiang was
seemingly not the board’s first pick this time either. In fact, another famous Chiang was the
preferred option. Who was that Chiang? None other than Kai-Shek.

Chiang Kai-Shek, perhaps best known for bangers such as the Northern Expedition, the Xi’an
Incident, and Encirclement Campaigns 1 through 5, had his legacy tainted by the unfortunate loss
of the entirety of mainland China to communist forces under Mao Zedong in 1949. After that
loss, however, his Kuomintang Party’s systematic campaign of reforms to ingratiate themselves
to the ever-receptive and appreciative people of Taiwan, did little to wash away the stain of
defeat.

Perhaps that was why his name came up first when the Northwestern Board of Trustees was
looking for new leadership. The Generalissimo has proven experience with bringing a group
from the brink of disaster (several times) and somehow having the nerve to not just stay in the
fight, but to never let yourself get knocked down, no matter how many hundreds of thousands
must die in the process. That is what the Mandate of Heaven is all about.
It is still unknown why Chiang (Kai-Shek) never responded to the Board of Trustees when they
reached out to him. But, I suppose having Mung Chiang as President won’t be so bad. Just so
long as he does not intentionally flood the lakefill to slow down the advance of an invading
army, that sure would suck!