ALUMNI CORNER
Long May Columbia Stand
By Gerald Sherwin '55
President, Columbia College Alumni Association

	Gerald Sherwin '55 PHOTO: MICHAEL DAMES

Think back to the "good old days" of being on the Columbia campus. Sometimes, don't we all wish we could turn back the clock? Well, things are changing rapidly at the College, and in nearly every case, they are changing for the better. It turns out the current days are pretty special, too.

Always at or near the top of the Ivy League in this area, the College has become even more diverse. The selectivity rate, at less than 13 percent, is now the lowest in history. The College remains the smallest school in the Ivy League, even with the extraordinary Class of 2004 with 1,011 students. This status as a small liberal arts college in a large research university is a valuable selling point to prospective applicants.

A new undergraduate library in Butler, the Philip L. Milstein Family College Library, has been completed. It is magnificent. The new dorm on 113th Street and Broadway, which opened this semester, offers students modern, comfortable living quarters.

Spectator is a quality publication that writes about issues of importance to students, faculty and administrators. WKCR, the best jazz station around, still manages to broadcast original and entertaining music and, of course, Columbia's key sporting events.

It is well worth a visit to 116th Street to see the luster of the campus and feel the energy and the excitement.

Columbia's name constantly appears in the media. Every move Columbia makes is subject to great scrutiny by the national and local press. That's what happens when you're one of the best institutions of higher learning in the country. Yet other schools, Ivies included, don't generate as much attention as Columbia in the media capital of the world.

By virtue of being on a campus in the heart of New York City, students have the opportunity to explore and be exposed to the outside world. The Nos. 1 and 9 trains take them, within minutes, to all sorts of business and entertainment opportunities.

There are also many wonderful things happening on or near Morningside Heights for alumni. Events are occurring on campus throughout the academic year which appeal to and attract a variety of groups - the Alexander Hamilton Medal Dinner (Bill Campbell '62 is this year's honoree); Homecoming at Baker Field, Dean's Day; the John Jay Awards Dinner; get-togethers involving Black, Latino and Asian Alumni; sessions with the Columbia College Women and Columbia College Young Alumni organizations; sporting competitions in Levien Gym; and best of all - Reunions.

For those who reside a little further away and cannot get to campus, local events are being planned for you - lectures by key faculty, social events, Alumni Representative Committee meetings, occasional sporting events, and visits by President George Rupp and Dean Austin Quigley.

As you can see, Columbia is with you wherever you may be.

If alumni want to get a truer perspective of the College today, talk to students - the first-years as well as the seniors. You'll be pleased to learn how positive these undergraduates are about their experience at Columbia.

Although it sounds like cheerleading (anyone who knows me is aware I cannot help it sometimes), Columbia continues to be one of the leading institutions of higher learning around the globe. Where else could you find another Nobel Prize winner, Eric Kandel; Olympic participants Cristina Teuscher '00 (who won a bronze medal) in swimming, Tom Auth '90 in rowing, Matt Napoleon SEAS '98 in soccer, Ann Marsh '94 and Erinn Smart Barnard '02 in fencing; thespians including George Segal '55, Brian Dennehy '60, Matt Fox '89 and Amanda Peet '94, jurists and attorneys Eric Holder '73, Jose Cabranes '61, Joseph Greenaway '78 and Michael Mukasey '63; professors Virginia Cornish '91 and Jim Shapiro '77, and countless others who may not be as well known but are equally successful in their various fields of endeavor.

In recent times we see Columbia ranked in U.S. News & World Report lower than where the school belongs. We wonder about these rankings from a survey that changes the weighting system from year to year. Indeed, anyone who selects a school based on a magazine study is not looking at the entire picture.

You may ask if all the positive things are going to come to an end. My only answer is that while there may be a slow-down, the school's leadership, momentum and vision of where it wants to be is so strong that it will keep Columbia going for quite a while.

Dean Quigley talks about three key elements that combine to characterize the education that Columbia College provides its students today: intellectual mobility, social mobility and career mobility.

"By combining these three elements in a coordinated living and learning environment, Columbia College preserves, extends and renews its tradition of preparing students to make informed choices in a world always haunted by its many pasts, but also oriented toward a variety of possible futures."

The Columbia College program is working. Be part of it. Feel free to contact me at: gsherwin@newyork.bozell.com.

We want and need your support.