Columbians Celebrate Columbia
by Jennifer Vermillion, GS ’03

Imagine standing on the steps of Low Library with a couple of friends in mid October and watching students scurry, carrying their laptops, books, and notepads. The air is crisp and cool. College Walk is lined with blue and white Columbia 250 banners and the energy on campus is electric. What is the buzz all about? Columbians celebrating Columbia! To commemorate Columbia’s 250th anniversary over the next year, alumni, students, faculty, administrators, and staff are encouraged to join in the celebrations. The University is providing film screenings, symposia, book signings, lectures, and much more. There is something for everyone. (Event details can be found on page 9.) Those who find New York: A Documentary Film, The Civil War, or the four-part film on the history of the American West engaging and entertaining will not want to miss Columbia: A Celebration. Ric Burns (CC ’78; GSAS ’83), documentary filmmaker, two-time Emmy award winner, and Columbian, revisits Columbia and captures on film the history, legacy, and future of our University.

Left: Butler Library under construction. The coffee shop and twenty-four computer-lab it houses are not even a thought. Right: Construction workers place the finishing touches on the dome of Low Library as seen on the cover of Dolkart’s book. It’s the largest granite dome in North America. Care to guess the weight? Log on to OwlNet at www.alumni.gs.columbia.edu.

The three-minute sneak preview on the Columbia 250 webpage (www.c250.columbia.edu) is interesting and captivating. Burns weaves Columbia’s past and present seamlessly. The introduction begins in the present and shares insights from esteemed Columbians. Journalist Claire Shipman (CC ’86; SIPA ’94) sets the tone and says, “Columbia is a mecca for the intellectual world.” Shipman’s words convey a shared intellectual responsibility that Columbians share, which challenges alumni, students, faculty, and administrators to continue their pursuit for intellectual excellence. The continued success of Columbia lies in those who act on their academic training and contribute their ideas, thoughts, and inventions to society.

Burns then transports the viewer to lower Manhattan in 1754. The narrator tells the story of eight students who attend college in the red light district, as the camra moves toward a dimly lit streetlight. The students meet in the vestry of Trinity Church and receive instruction in Greek, Latin, logic, and history as well as nine other subjects from one professor, President Samuel Johnson. Burns highlights how the dedication of eight students and the direction and commitment of one professor has provided a foundation for scholarship and a standard for excellence.

When the campus moves to its third location, Morningside Heights, in the late 1800s, a focus is placed on distinguished faculty members providing timely, relevant lectures for the public. Given in Low Library on Saturday mornings to a maximum of 400 attendees, the lectures grow in popularity, and eventually tickets are required. In time, the nature and emphasis of the lectures shift, reflecting the times and needs of the public and the University. Columbia now shifts once again. With the 250th anniversary celebration, world leaders and academics are being invited to join Columbia faculty members in the upcoming symposia. The public is also encouraged to participate in one or all of the seven symposia that span over the next year.

Andrea Solomon, Ph.D., (CC ’87) a former associate dean at GS and now associate director of Columbia 250, has been planning andworking with faculty to develop this year’s symposia. Solomon says, “The symposia are interdisciplinary and challenging, but most definitely geared towards the educated layperson. We fully expect students, alumni, staff, and faculty from Columbia and peer institutions to be able to appreciate the whole experience.”

Each symposium is conducted over a twoday time period, providing attendees with an intensive and comprehensive academic experience. “Constitutions, Democracy, and the Rule of Law” is one of the two symposia that are scheduled for opening weekend (October 16-19, 2003). Distinguished Columbia academics plan to lead a discussion on the role of constitutions and question how constitutions effect and influence citizens as well as governing bodies. Political leaders and leading academics from four U.S. universities and Oxford are also invited to participate in the forum. The questions that the symposia raise, address, answer, and do not answer are certain to provide further study and direction for present and future scholars. As Solomon considers her role in the planning of these events, she smiles broadly and shares, “I have appreciated even more poignantly than ever the goldmine that is the Columbia faculty. I’ve had so much fun working with them and the provost in developing the symposia topics, and in securing a veritable ‘dream team’ of speakers to invite from around the world.” She pauses and then concludes, “Columbia is a phenomenal generator of original thinking, and a generous convener of great minds.” One of Columbia’s great minds is Robert McCaughey, Barnard’s Anne Olin Whitney Professor of History and chairman of the Barnard Department of History. An expert on the history of our academic institution, McCaughey has authored Stand, Columbia: A History of Columbia University (Columbia University Press, 2003). In his book, he traces the successes and challenges that have faced Columbia and the people who have influenced its history. Stand, Columbia begins with pre-founding discussions that date back to 1704 and concludes with the inauguration of Lee C. Bollinger as president and the preparations for the University’s anniversary.

Left:The gate at 117th Street and Broadway. Students walk through this gate to go to classes at Barnard, to visit Lewisohn, or to get a cup of coffee and donut from the friendly street vendor. Right: Some things do not change. Students still like to gather in Butler Library. It is one of the most social spots on campus.

Stand, Columbia serves as a teaching tool in McCaughey’s course A Social History of Columbia in which students learn firsthand about the University’s history. Students rave about his class saying that McCaughey is an engaging, charismatic, and eloquent lecturer and the reading material is insightful and comprehensive. The course is divided into six time frames, which correspond with his book.

After students return from spring break, McCaughey moves into Columbia in 1968. Several students describe this period as being one of the most fascinating aspects of Columbia’s history. Four lectures are given surrounding the events that lead up to the revolts of 1968 and the University’s reconstruction afterwards. McCaughey frames the era by emphasizing the international and political climate, the financial and racial tensions in New York, and the strong presence and display of student anger on American campuses. He then chronicles the impulses of students, faculty, administrators, and trustees and how they influence the direction of this academic institution.

McCaughey’s affinity for this era extends beyond the classroom. When conducting research for Stand, Columbia, McCaughey interviewed people who were influential in Columbia’s rebound. Reflecting for a moment on the most pleasurable aspect of his research, he offers, “[it was] the chance to conduct oral history interviews with some of the significant players in the successful effort to pull Columbia back from the edge after 1968.”

McCaughey’s comprehensive historical perspective provides students with a broader and clearer understanding of their University as well as a greater appreciation for it. And now he offers the same opportunity to his readers. Stand, Columbia is available in bookstores.

McCaughey relaxes and considers one point that he wishes to convey in his history of Columbia. He leans forward and reveals, “that however long-running, institutions like Columbia are not immortal and that their survival and efficacy are contingent upon effective leadership and widespread public support.”

A historical perspective on the University is not complete without the mentioning of McKim, Mead, and White. Andrew Dolkart, the James Marston Fitch Professor of Historic Preservation at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University, is the author of Morningside Heights: A History of Its Architecture and Development (Columbia University Press, 2001). He details in his book the building and making of Morningside Heights, which is heavily influenced by the architectual designs of McKim, Mead, and White. In the late 1800s, Columbia and St. Luke’s Hospital begin building on large plots of land and are soon followed by Barnard College and Teachers College. The landscape of the neighborhood begins to take form. Dolkart openly shares some background into his research for Morningside Heights. “The pleasure came in discovery—discovering new material and new ideas. Finding the link between the construction of St. John the Divine and Riverside Church, for example, or discovering that one’s preconceived ideas were incorrect and that the reality of development in the area was far more interesting.” The passion he feels for his work is contagious and exciting. He elaborates on his discoveries and offers two examples. “I had assumed that the relationship between the elite institutions that moved to Morningside Heights had been close, but it turned out that they were often tense since the institutions were competing for funds from a small group of donors; and I had assumed that the development of the apartment house neighborhood was closely related to that of the institutions, but they turned out to be unrelated.”

When Dolkart speaks of the campus itself, he reveals a soft spot. He does not hesitate to say, “I think that Charles McKim’s plan is a masterpiece —one of the most subtle and complex urban institutional plans in America.”

The celebration of Columbia is made possible because the rich contributions that Columbians continue to make. It has been a pleasure to learn about the contributions of Ric Burns, Andrea Solomon, Robert McCaughey, and Andrew Dolkart. And this only scrapes the surface. The scope of the Columbia 250 is extensive and exciting. What Columbians do today, tomorrow, and this year paves the direction of this University’s future. Come out and celebrate! Meet you on the steps at Low.