ALUMNI CORNER
Our Alma Mater Grand, Now and for Aye
By Gerald Sherwin '55
President, Columbia College Alumni Association

Gerald Sherwin '55 PHOTO: MICHAEL DAMES

Many exciting and interesting things continue to happen involving Columbia College students, faculty and alumni, both on and off campus — so much of a positive nature.

To an overflow audience at Faculty House, the annual Lionel Trilling-Mark Van Doren Awards were given this past spring to Jonathan Crary '75, professor of art history and archaeology, and Kathy Eden, professor of literature humanities, respectively. The honorees were selected by a Student Council subcommittee. The Trilling Award is presented to a faculty member for an extraordinary book, the Van Doren Award for inspiring teaching.

Overall, Reunion 2001 was the most successful ever (and that was without the Class of 1941, which met two weeks later, and the Class of 1951, which is holding its 50th in September.) The four-day event started Thursday evening with alumni choosing from among three hit Broadway shows followed by champagne at Sardi's, or a downtown dance party. On Friday night there was a huge turnout, especially young alums, for dining and dancing at the Hammerstein Ballroom in midtown. Class-specific dinners were among the highlights of Saturday's program as alumni reminisced with classmates. And a good many made it to Sunday brunch before heading home. Classes ending in 2s and 7s should not fret: Planning has already begun for Reunion 2002 — bigger and better.

Over the summer, a special reception hosted by Conrad Lung '72 in Singapore brought together incoming first-year students and their parents for a presentation by Kathryn Wittner of the Dean of Student Affairs office. It was so well received that the effort will be expanded to other parts of the globe, including Columbia alumni as well as students.

As of this writing, orientation week for the Class of 2005 is just around the corner, with the highlight expected to be the march through the newly refurbished gates at 116th Street and Broadway by the first years, carrying their very own class flag. Many events were planned to make these new students feel a part of Columbia and New York City — a pep rally with the band and the cheerleaders, excerpts from the Varsity Show (introduced by Rita Pietropinto-Kitt '92), a party at the Central Park Zoo and, of course, a welcome from Dean Austin Quigley. Pulling all this together was student coordinating leader Ali Hirsh '02.

As an aside: To show everyone our impact in the Columbia Club in New York (which we share with a certain New Jersey college), you can now see at the club's entrance a bust of the late President (of the University and the United States) Dwight David Eisenhower. Actually, Ike looks pretty good.

All the good feelings about the College translate into an outpouring of alumni support. The Alumni Association Outreach Committee, under the leadership of Mozelle Thompson '76, has begun to recruit volunteers for its endeavors such as mentoring, communications, volunteerism and events. Over 100 alumni from around the country and overseas responded to the initial mailing. The Outreach group will play a significant role in the third annual post-Homecoming Black Alumni reception to be held in Low Library on October 13. Homecoming itself will be celebrated on Saturday, October 13, primarily at Baker Field. If you want to see your classmates, the deans, recent and not so recent alumni and students, Baker Field is the place to be. There will be something for everyone — the big tent with lots of good food and Columbia souvenirs, the cheerleaders and band, varsity sports such as field hockey, men's soccer, women's soccer and, of course, football vs. Penn.

A couple of days before Homecoming, on October 11, the Society of Columbia Graduates will host the 52nd Annual Great Teacher Awards in Low Library. The two awardees are Michael Seidel, professor in the humanities from the College, and Dimitris Anastassiou, professor of electrical engineering, from SEAS.

Work continued over the summer on the refurbishment of Avery, Low and Butler Libraries, the black box theater and new facilities for WKCR in Lerner Hall, and the remodeling of classrooms and offices in Hamilton Hall. One other project of note is the Remembrance Memorial, whose logistics are expected to be finalized this year. Plaques listing the names of American servicemen who died in uniform during the country's wars will be placed in a prominent spot on campus.

As usual, the highlight of late autumn is the Alexander Hamilton Award Dinner, to be held November 13 in Low Library. This year the College will honor Phil Milstein '71, who has done so much for the school in so many ways. The dinner co-chairs are fellow trustee Richard Witten '75 and classmate Mark Kingdon '71.

As you can see, Columbia College is continuously on the move to maintain and enhance its stature as one of the great institutions of higher learning in the world. As we all know, in order to solidify and grow the intergenerational community Dean Quigley talks about, all segments of the Columbia College family must be involved — the faculty; the administrators; of course our future, the students; the parents; and you, the alumni. Only through this collective involvement and support will our goals and dreams for the College be realized.

If anyone has any thoughts, comments, bon mots, please send your e-mail to: gsherwin@newyork.bozell.com. Stay well. We hope to see or hear from you soon.