Gu confides that he felt quite ambivalent at first about serving as school principal. Although the political gulf between family members was perhaps not as wide as it had been in previous decades, he was worried that a scholar like himself might not have what it took to do a good job as principal after a lifetime of operating within a socialist system and enjoying powerful political backing.
顧驤回憶當年接任校長的一番掙扎，四十年前國共不兩立，親人經過半世紀的歲月滄桑，政治上的隔閡也許舒緩，他顧慮的是，民辦高校需自籌資金，自主辦學，他這吃慣了大鍋飯、背後有靠山的學者，能否掌舵？