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ALUMNI CORNERA Columbia "Top 10" ListBy Brian Krisberg ’81 “… to undertake a systematic and detailed analysis of the opportunities facing the College, with the mission of proposing a course of action to achieve our basic goal that Columbia College be, and be recognized as, the preeminent undergraduate college in any major university in America … ” So wrote Martin Kaplan ’61 in fall 1991 as he proposed the formation of what came to be known as the Committee on the Future of Columbia College. Twenty months later, in spring 1993, the 22-person committee published a 55-page document, Report on the Future of Columbia College. The report is a remarkable document. It provided a framework for College and University administrators, faculty and alumni to analyze opportunities facing the College and explore methods by which the College might attain its potential. The report contained a series of recommendations, each relating to a different issue central to the College’s future.
Recently, I perused the report and noticed how many of its themes and recommendations have been implemented in the intervening years. Some of the report’s objectives have been greatly exceeded. Other goals and policies noted in the report have been preserved through challenging times. What becomes clear is that the report was a prescient and insightful document that helped to shape the College as we know it today. As I reviewed the report, I wrote a Columbia “Top 10” list of major developments from the past 12 years at the College and their relationship to the report. The list is personal and not in order of importance. (And don’t worry; it’s not a dry recitation of the text of the report!) The list demonstrates that everyone associated with the College during this period — students, alumni, administrators, faculty and parents — has much to be proud of. Any list of recent accomplishments must start with the construction of the student center, Alfred Lerner Hall, and its Roone Arledge Auditorium. While its design has critics, the key point is that the new structure greatly exceeded the report’s vision of a “renovated and expanded” Ferris Booth Hall. Second is the transformation of two key College buildings. The College Library has expanded from the southeast corner of Butler to virtually the entire main floor, thanks to the generosity of Philip Milstein ’71, a committee member. Again, the Milstein Family College Library surpasses the report’s call for the creation of a College library “of significant quality.” An equally impressive renovation has taken place in Hamilton Hall, the College’s headquarters, which features state-of-the-art classrooms; attractive, functional offices; and an impressive lobby highlighted by two beautiful, century-old stained glass windows that had been gathering dust in storage crates for years. As the College’s signature building, it is fitting that Hamilton has been so wonderfully restored. Third is the dramatic growth and improvement in alumni relations. The College’s alumni relations effort is among the strongest, if not the strongest, in the University’s 16 schools. Several noteworthy developments in recent years, which the report called for, include the encouragement of alumni groups geared toward women and minorities and the more frequent publication of this excellent magazine, Columbia College Today. This could not have been accomplished without the efforts of a strengthened Alumni Office headed by Dean of Alumni Affairs and Development Derek Wittner ’65, ably supported by Executive Director of the Columbia College Fund Susan Birnbaum, Executive Director of Alumni Affairs Ken Catandella, Director of Communications and CCT Editor Alex Sachare ’71 and their hard-working staffs. Fourth is the College’s success in preserving the integrity
of the Core Curriculum, which the report identified as having a
“central role in the academic life and institutional history
of the College.” Loyalty to the Core is evidenced by endowed
Core teaching chairs (funded by alumni) and the commitment to the
new Science Core course. Sixth is the College’s commitment to being a fully residential community. Work clearly remains to be done in this area to achieve the report’s goal of all students sharing “a comparable and better quality of residence life.” Yet the construction of the Broadway Residence Hall and upgrades to other dormitories (including River and Wien) demonstrate that significant gains have been made in this area. Seventh is the realization that quality of athletics and athletics facilities is an important component of a healthy campus community. Again, while work remains to be done, a cultural change appears to be on the horizon. President Lee C. Bollinger’s decision to have new Athletics Director M. Dianne Murphy report directly to him, a change from prior administrations, demonstrates that he is willing to be held accountable for Columbia’s ability to compete in athletics. Eighth is the continuation of the College’s full-need financial aid policy, which the report cited as a cornerstone that must be continued when any expansion of the College is considered. The College has expanded from 3,400 students in 1991 to 4,200 today, and full-need financial aid has survived the University’s recent financial constraints. A cautionary point to note is the different competitive financial aid environment that the College operates in today, where peer schools are providing larger grants and requiring smaller student loans, or no loans at all. This represents a challenge that the College will need to address in the immediate future. Ninth is the tremendous increase in the College’s applicant pool and selectivity. The growth of the dedicated Admissions Office staff, equipped with improved communications about what distinguishes the College from peer schools, has enabled the College not only to attract far more candidates than a decade ago, but also to recruit top candidates more effectively. Tenth on my list is leadership. In 1993, former President George Rupp arrived at Columbia and stated his goal of placing the College at the center of the University. Two years later, Austin Quigley became the 14th Dean of the College and began a tireless quest to make the College an “intergenerational community” of Columbians bonded by the commonality of the Core, need-blind admissions and full financial aid. In 2002, Bollinger arrived and declared that Columbia cannot be a great university unless it has a great college; given this charge, Quigley continues to work to make the College the best it can be, ably supported by a senior staff that includes Dean of Academic Affairs Kathryn Yatrakis, Dean of Student Affairs Chris Colombo, Associate Dean for Planning and Administration Susan Mescher, Dean for Career Education Christopher Pratt and Wittner. I would be remiss if I did not mention the leadership contribution during the past quarter-century of former Dean of Students Roger Lehecka ’67, who recently retired and whose steady hand and vision for the College’s future were invaluable. The College has come a long way from the days when Kaplan had the foresight to establish the committee mandate. Indeed, the College is well-positioned to compete effectively with any peer institution. It is up to all of us connected with the College to seize this opportunity so that in a decade or so, we can look back with pride on what has been accomplished.
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