AROUND THE QUADS
CAMPUS BULLETINS
CEREMONIES:
The biggest New York City snowstorm in two years provided a perfect
backdrop for two Columbia traditions: one relatively new, the other
long established. On Thursday, December 5, as six inches of snow
blanketed the city, students, faculty, alumni and administrators
celebrated the third annual Tree
Lighting Ceremony and the 93rd annual Yule Log Ceremony.
The
Columbia
College Student Council sponsored the Tree Lighting Ceremony
along College Walk, in which student a cappella groups Notes and
Keys, the Kingsmen and Uptown Vocal performed. Special Service Professor
Wm. Theodore de Bary ’41 and CCSC President Michael Novielli
’03 addressed the students, who were served hot apple cider
and roasted chestnuts amid the falling snow. University President
Lee C. Bollinger noted that the ceremony “symbolizes light
and knowledge and peace from the darkness.” He then led the
crowd in a countdown that culminated in the illumination of all
the trees on College Walk, which had been festooned with lights.
Many of the same people gathered later that evening for the 93rd
annual Yule Log Ceremony in John Jay Lounge. Gardenia Cercedo ’03
Barnard, vice president of the Blue Key Society, which sponsored
the event, introduced the Columbia Gospel Choir, which sang Christmas
carols. University Chaplain Jewelnel Davis; Vivian Taylor, sophomore
class dean at Barnard; Engineering School Dean Zvi Galil; and Bollinger
passed along holiday wishes. College Dean Austin Quigley thanked
the Blue Key Society “for keeping this wonderful tradition
alive” and read selections from Dylan Thomas’ A
Child’s Christmas in Wales, and Connie Hoch, the mellifluous-voiced
source of Columbia voicemail messages (known on campus as the “Rolm
phone lady”), read A Visit From Saint Nicholas by
Clement Clarke Moore (Class of 1798).
The first Yule Log Ceremony was instituted by University President
Nicholas Murray Butler (Class of 1882) to provide holiday cheer
for students who could not go home during the holidays.
T.P.C.
AWARDED:
Gilles Fabien Vonsattel ’03, a political science and economics
major, was awarded first prize in the Walter W. Naumburg International
Piano Competition, which was held on June 11, 2002. Vonsattel, who
also is pursuing a master’s in music as a participant in the
Columbia-Julliard exchange program, performed at Lincoln Center’s
Alice Tully Hall on November 20 in a recital that was organized
and presented by the Naumburg Foundation and included works by Bach,
Schumann, Prokofiev, Ravel and Xenakis. Vonsattel, who was born
in Switzerland and began playing piano at age 4, was a prizewinner
in at the 2001 Cleveland International Piano Competition and won
first prize at the 1999 Boston Symphony Orchestra Competition.
EL REGRESO:

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Dr. Benjamin Ortiz
Jr. '94 was honored by the Alumni of Color Outreach Program
for his achievements and for being an ACOP mentor at the
annual Latino Alumni Heritage REception at Bernard's Sulzberger
parlor on Ocotber 16. Joining him is Denise De Las Nueces
'03, Latino student representative to ACOP.
PHOTO: Deborah Zeolla
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The Latino Alumni Association of
Columbia University (LAACU) will sponsor El Regreso, the Fourth
Annual Latino Alumni Homecoming, on Saturday, March 8 at 7 p.m.
in Low Library. The celebratory event includes the announcement
of the recipient of the 2003 Latino Heritage Award, which was established
to recognize Latino alumni who exemplify a commitment to the education
and advancement of the Latino community.
In November, LAACU elected its new board of directors: Alicia
D. Guevara ’94, president; Eugenio A. Cano ’95, vice
president; Jose Rivera-Benitez ’77, Latino membership chair;
German A. Gomez ’90, secretary; and Julie M. Torres ’93
Barnard, treasurer.
For more information about El Regreso, please contact Adlar García
’95, assistant director, alumni affairs, in the Alumni Office,
at (212) 870-2786 or ag80@columbia.edu,
or visit www.laacu.org.
EVACUATION STUDY:
Columbia researchers are embarking on a three-year study of the
evacuation of the World Trade Center twin towers during the terrorist
attack to help determine how individual behavior, the structure
of the buildings and emergency management procedures affected who
survived and why. The injury prevention program at the federal Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention has awarded a $1.5 million grant
to the Center for Public Health Preparedness at the Mailman School
of Public Health to finance the study.
CCW HONOREE:
Jennifer
C. Friedman ’93 ’98L, founder and director of the Courtroom
Advocates Project of New York City’s Center for Battered Women’s
Legal Services, will receive the 12th
annual Columbia College Women Alumna Achievement Award on Wednesday,
March 26, in Lerner Hall. Claire Shipman ’86 of ABC News
will be the keynote speaker.
Friedman directs all facets of the legal advocacy program, which
represents domestic violence victims in Family and Supreme Court
matters, and supervises advocates in their cases. She also supervises
the recruitment of law students and summer associates for CAP, where
she has worked since 1998. She previously served as a human rights
fellow for the NAACP and as a legislative assistant for the Union
of American Hebrew Congregations.
For more information on the award reception, which begins at 7
p.m., please contact Heather Applewhite in the Alumni Office at
(212) 870-2757 or hh15@columbia.edu.
TRUMAN:
Phoebe K. Farag ’00 received The Truman Award of Leadership
and Innovation by Young Professionals in International Development
in November. Farag, who lives in the Washington, D.C., area, won
the prestigious award for her work in developing and implementing
The Valuable Girl Project, an education program piloted in rural
Egypt that uses cross-age tutoring to help girls stay in school
and provide them support. “Big sisters” aid “little
sisters” in the project by providing positive role models
and academic assistance.
Farag is the international program manager at Coptic Orphans, the
metro D.C.-based organization that funds the project. She monitors
the project, which she proposed last January. In addition to her
work with The Valuable Girl Project, Farag is midway through a master’s
degree in international education at The George Washington University.
The Society for International Development presents the Truman Award
to honor “leadership, creativity and dedication in the broad
fields of international development.” The society’s
Washington, D.C., chapter presented the award, which includes a
plaque and $500. The society selects recipients for the Truman Award
to recognize “positive motivation and inspiration to other
young professionals.”
P.W.
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