ALUMNI CORNER
One Last Toast Ere We Part
By Gerald Sherwin '55
President, Columbia College Alumni Association

Gerald Sherwin '55 PHOTO: MICHAEL DAMES

As the school year winds down and spring envelops the East Coast, awards and events encompass the Columbia community.
Events in February and March included the Columbia College Women Annual Alumna Achievement Award being bestowed upon Carolina Gonzalez ’87, an editor at The New York Daily News; Adlar García ’95 receiving this year’s Leadership Recognition from the Latino Alumni Association of Columbia University; and the 2002 John Jay Awards for Professional Achievement being presented to Joel Klein ’67, Willicm McDavid ’68, Derek Johnson ’81 and Conrad Lung ’72 at the Plaza Hotel.

Also, Al Butts ’64 received a special honor from the Old Blue Rugby Group. Former Old Blue stalwarts Bill Campbell ’62 and Dick Donelli ’59 were in attendance, among many other College alums.
The end of Black Heritage Month featured an appearance by New York State Comptroller Carl McCall in St. Paul’s Chapel, where he spoke to many students, alumni and faculty. Asian Heritage Month was celebrated in Lerner Hall and was attended by a large and enthusiastic number of alumni and students.
Dean of the College Austin Quigley hosted the annual Dean’s Day program in April, and a record number of alumni and parents came back to campus to hear what makes Columbia College great — the faculty, who spoke on a variety of topics, engendering much thought and discussion.

At the end of April, the Senior Class Dinner was held under a tent on South Field. The Dean and the Alumni Association participated in this exhilarating affair, which was attended by nearly everyone in the Class of ’02. Thanks to Colleen Hsia ’02 and Ellen Gustafson ’02 for helping to make this event a huge success and for starting another Columbia tradition.

As touched on in an earlier column, a relatively new series of programs designed to bring alumni and students closer together was introduced this year and has become extremely popular. It all takes place in the Living and Learning Center, where alumni meet with groups of students to discuss issues of the day. Alums who have participated thus far include Larry Grossman ’52, Dick Wald ’52 and Greg Wyatt ’71. Another set of alumni/student get-togethers is Dinner and Conversation, which focuses mainly on careers but also includes other topics. Richard Witten ’75, Arnold Tolkin ’54, Michael Azerrad ’83 and Dr. Gordon Klein ’67 are among those who have taken part.

As part of the plan to bring Columbia College to alumni and parents around the country and the world, the dean and other College representatives traveled to Los Angeles, Orange County and San Francisco in late March, where several lunches and dinners were held. The attendees were brought up to date on the state of the College (especially since 9/11), admissions, financial aid, the refurbishing of Hamilton Hall, renovations to Butler Library and many other areas of note.

The hosts in California were David Stanton ’77, Peter Sullivan ’74 and Steve Silberman ’74 P’03, Susan Bay-Nimoy and Leonard Nimoy P’03, Marty Jelenko ’67 P’04 and Troy Jelenko P’04, Ed Weinstein ’57 and Ilene Lederman ’87 (Ed’s daughter) and Alan Stein ’52. Plans are being formulated to return to the West Coast in late June to greet newly accepted students and their parents, along with alumni and current students home for the summer. California will not be the only place visited — destinations under consideration include Singapore, Hong Kong, London, Atlanta, Boston and other domestic cities.
Other events coming up include Class Day on May 21, Commencement on May 22, and of course, Reunion for classes ending in 2 and 7, May 30–June 2.

You can all feel that the Columbia family is getting closer and closer together. Alumni, parents, students, faculty, administrators — all should be proud of the College. The bar of excellence is being raised to a new level with each incoming class.

So, dear Columbians, as my term as president of the Alumni Association winds down, there are many people to thank for making the past two years some of the most exciting and truly enjoyable times I have experienced on Morningside Heights: Dean Quigley, the administrators, the CCAA officers and the full board, including the next president of the Alumni Association, Charles O’Byrne ’81, First Vice President Bob Berne ’60, Derek Wittner ’65 and the Alumni Affairs and Development staff, and others too numerous to mention, but most of all, the students who each day bring new life to our school. Plaudits also go to you, the alumni, who mean so much to the College, now and in the future.

As you might expect, I still will be around in many other alumni capacities. The e-mail remains the same (gs481@juno.com) in case you have any thoughts, questions, bon mots and so forth. Stay well, and thank you for everything.