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ALUMNI CORNER

Living in a Transformational Era

By Brian Krisberg ’81
President, Columbia College Alumni Association

Something significant is going on at Columbia these days, and none of us knows exactly how it will turn out. Columbia is entering an exciting period under the leadership of President Lee C. Bollinger, and while many obstacles lie ahead, this may prove to be a transformational era for the University.

What are remarkable are the parallels between the current era and the transformation that took place at Columbia in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when Michael Sovern ’53 became University president.

I arrived at Columbia in 1977. The campus turmoil of the late 1960s and early 1970s had no real meaning to me. My parents had commuted to CCNY and Brooklyn College, and it was a pretty big deal to them that I was going to attend an Ivy League school and live in New York City. When I got to Columbia, I became vaguely aware of the orientation that had characterized the prior University administration, a mind-set of constraints and lack of openness to future possibilities.

The potentially transformational events of the upcoming years will influence the next wave of alumni.

Sovern’s arrival in 1980 and the initiatives and policies that he implemented, together with the hard work of many College administrators under the leadership of Deans Arnold Collery and Robert Pollack ’61, caused a dramatic shift in the way people felt about the College. This atmosphere of positive change and excitement about the future is the only Columbia I have ever known.

The list of accomplishments from that transformational era is impressive, indeed. The College moved to become fully residential with the building of East Campus and the renovation of other dormitories. The University conducted a capital campaign that significantly exceeded its goal. Having a successful undergraduate admissions operation became a priority that began to be realized with the arrival of Jim McMenamin, now a special adviser to the dean who recently completed his 25th year at Columbia. Athletics received attention with the construction of Wien Stadium at Baker Field and a new soccer field. And, of course, the College became coeducational with relative ease following much debate and discourse. I recall vividly the extraordinary days in August 1983 when, in my capacity as Carman’s head resident, I helped the first fully coeducational class move in. The achievements that took place 25 years ago laid the groundwork for today’s Columbia, when another transformational era may be dawning.

It is hard to pinpoint when this started, though Bollinger’s arrival in 2002 certainly is a convenient date. The College already was riding the wave of a dramatic upswing under the leadership of Austin Quigley, who became dean in 1995 at the beginning of what has been a remarkable renaissance for the College. Now, although the jury still is out and there are many points of view on how to proceed, the University may be on the cusp of a similar surge.

What, you may ask, am I getting at here? Periodically, a leader will come along who exudes confidence, who thinks big thoughts and who is able to change the tone and expectations of an organization. This individual will have a specific vision of the future and be able to articulate it clearly and consistently. Finally, this person will have the ability to raise the sights of an entire institution.

Is Bollinger this leader? Although his presidency still is young, the priorities and goals he and his administration have established will go a long way toward determining what Columbia will look like in 2031, when I return for my 50th reunion. What I like most is that the administration is asking itself what Columbia needs to do to attract the best and the brightest students and faculty and to compete successfully against the other top U.S. colleges and universities.

Soon, the University will formally announce a seven-year, $4 billion capital campaign that has been in a successful “quiet phase” for two years. Considering that in recent years Columbia has been raising on average about $300 million annually, it is obvious the goal is to take fundraising to a different level. One of the first objectives of the campaign is to permanently endow financial aid at the College. In light of initiatives undertaken by peer institutions in recent years, strengthening financial aid is imperative if Columbia intends to continue its long-standing commitment to providing opportunities to all segments of the student population and having classes that reflect our diverse society.

Expanding the space in which Columbia operates is another priority — all one needs do is speak with faculty and administrators about the space constraints they struggle with on a daily basis to comprehend this urgent need. There are many points of view as to how best to grow Columbia, but no one questions that significant growth is vital to the University’s future. The science tower that will be built during the next few years on the southeast corner of Broadway and 120th Street is one step; a larger one is the new campus proposed for Manhattanville, an idea first explored under the administration of George Rupp, which has been embraced and propelled forward by Bollinger. This expansion will take decades and is being conducted with a level of sensitivity to the surrounding community that is far greater than the debacle of the 1960s, when the ill-fated Morningside Gym was undertaken with little community input. Columbia officials have regularly attended community board meetings and town hall-style Q&As and hosted informational sessions in an attempt to raise the level of transparency in the process and become cognizant of community concerns. There will, no doubt, be serious discussions ahead about the shape of this project.

There are and will be additional priorities. Globalization, strengthening Columbia’s position in the global community, is one. Shoring up the strength of the faculty in specific departments, as evidenced by the recent wave of hirings in economics, is another. Improving the climate for minority students on campus and the upgrading the competitiveness of intercollegiate athletic teams (especially football, basketball and soccer) also come to mind. It is worth noting that in both the early 1980s and the current era, the role of the Core Curriculum as the quintessence of a Columbia education and as the foundation of the College experience has not been questioned.

At my 25th reunion last month, I exchanged stories about the fun (if you consider sleeping outside to get into a good Lit Hum section fun!) times we enjoyed a generation ago. For me and a number of classmates, those experiences planted the seeds for a lifetime of involvement with the College. Similarly, the potentially transformational events of the upcoming years will influence the next wave of alumni who will be active in the life of the College for years to come.

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