Email Us Contact CCT   Advertise with CCT! Advertise with CCT University University College Home College Alumni Home Alumni Home
Columbia College Today November 2003
 
Cover Story
 
 
Features
  
Welcome,
    Class of 2007
Memorial
    for Jim
    Shenton '49
Alumni
    Reflections
    on Jim
    Shenton '49
Conservation,
    Preservation,
    Education
Encyclopaedia
    Iranica

 

Departments
  
First Person:
    1930s Columbia
    Remembered

 

Departments
  
   

previous 

Previous

 || 

This Issue

 || 

Next 

next

FEATURE

Columbia Welcomes the Class of 2007

By Joan Kane
Photos By Eileen Barroso

“There is no better place in the world to attend college than Columbia. What you have before you is unmatched anywhere.” With these words, President Lee C. Bollinger welcomed the Class of 2007 during a sun-soaked South Field convocation ceremony on August 25. Dean of the College Austin Quigley and SEAS Dean Zvi Galil also addressed the students, family members and guests.

This year’s convocation ceremony, which marked the start of Columbia’s 250th academic year, included a series of firsts: the first time the College and the Engineering School shared a convocation ceremony, the first time that the ceremony was held on South Field and the first time that officers and faculty participated in the ceremony in full academic dress.

Lou Tomson '61
Glorious, sunny August skies greeted students, faculty, family and friends at the Convocation ceremony for members of the Class of 2007, which was held for the first time on South Field.
Lou Tomson '61
The flags made a colorful backdrop as (left, left to right) SEAS Dean Zvi Galil, Dean of the College Austin Quigley and University President Lee C. Bollinger take in the proceedings in full academic regalia.

 

Lou Tomson '61
Students wearing Columbia250
T-shirts lead a procession that included 89 flags, one for each home state or country of the members of the first-year class.

Following a processional that featured flags from the 89 states and countries from which members of the class hail, Dean of Student Affairs Chris Colombo greeted the new students and their families. “Today marks a time of ending, but also a time of new beginnings,” he told them. “Each of our students is unique and makes a valuable contribution to our community.” Colombo reassured parents that the Student Affairs staff “is ready to assist your sons and daughters for the next four years.”

Cedrick Mendoza-Tolentino ’05, chair of the New Student Orientation Program Committee, recounted his first days on campus. “As soon as I stepped foot on campus, I knew that I had fallen in love with Columbia,” he said, telling members of the class: “That’s what Columbia is to you now — your new home.”

Charles J. O’Byrne ’81, president of the Columbia College Alumni Association, welcomed the students on behalf of alumni. “As a representative of 50,000 Columbia alumni, I can say that you are surrounded by many visible reminders of alumni, and that Columbia is a magnificent place to grow.”

Lou Tomson '61
For help, first-years only had to look for the volunteers in yellow T-shirts.

Quigley, who is beginning his ninth year as dean of the College, emphasized the special challenges facing new students. “This generation of students will change careers — not only jobs — three or four times,” he said. “We have to educate students for change.” But he also urged the students to preserve their pasts in this new environment. “We must hold on to our hopes, ideas and interests. … As we prepare students for a world of change, we also must prepare them for a world of continuity.”

Bollinger declared, “I do not believe there has been a time that is better, more critically important, to be in college.” The “circumstance of the world has shifted considerably,” he noted, and we are “experiencing issues and problems of a kind and magnitude that we haven’t seen before.” In this environment, Bollinger said, “I am convinced that Columbia University is the best of universities to be at.” Particularly, he added, “at a time when Columbia celebrates its illustrious history.”

Lou Tomson '61
(above left) Students celebrate as they march through the Broadway Gates, marking their "official" entrance to Columbia as the Class of 2007 at the end of Class Act, an evening program for all first-year students on their first night on campus. Earlier, in Roone Arledge Auditorium, Dean of Student Affairs Chris Colombo greeted the students and presented their class banners (one for College students, one for SEAS), CC Young Alumni President Andy Topkins '98 spoke to the first-years on behalf of the alumni and student groups (above right) performed songs from past Varsity Shows.

Lou Tomson '61
Lou Tomson '61
Moving day is a busy one for students and parents alike: (clockwise from top left) Cars and taxis pull up onto College Walk to unload students and their belongings. A hammer came in handy as Janice and Dan Gail helped their son, Harry ’07, set up his room in John Jay. Finally, a laundry cart filled with boxes provided a good place for one weary first-year to take a break.

previous 

Previous

 || 

This Issue

 || 

Next 

next

  Untitled Document
Search Columbia College Today
Search!
Need Help?

Columbia College Today Home
CCT Home
 

November 2003
This Issue

September 2003
Previous Issue

 
CCT Credits
CCT Masthead