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AROUND THE QUADSHamilton Hall Turns 100Noted Alumnus Helps Celebrate Centennial
(Top) Dean Austin Quigley spoke of the importance of Hamilton Hall as the heart of the College and proudly described its renovation. (Above) Cookies bearing the image of Alexander Hamilton (Class of 1778) were among the treats. 
One of the most famous Columbians, Alexander Hamilton (Class of 1778), returned to campus on September 8 to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of Hamilton Hall and the completion of the renovation of the College’s flagship building. Hamilton, portrayed by actor Michael Hedges, joined President Lee C. Bollinger, Dean Austin Quigley, Hamilton biographer Ronald Chernow and other dignitaries — as well as students, faculty, administrators and alumni — for a brief ceremony in front of the building that is the physical heart of Columbia College. Hamilton earlier was a surprise guest at the conclusion of a luncheon in Low Rotunda to announce the launch of The Campaign for Undergraduate Education, and he urged guests to follow him to “my favorite building on campus” for desserts and libations.
Alumni and guests (left) joined students in welcoming Alexander Hamilton (Class of 1778), portrayed by Michael Hedges, and shared a birthday cake honoring his namesake building. Photos: Eileen Barroso
As “Hamilton” listened, Chernow gave those assembled a brief review of his rise from humble beginnings to become one of this country’s founding fathers and its first Secretary of the Treasury. Chernow noted that Columbia owed a debt to Princeton, since Hamilton originally had applied to what was then known as the College of New Jersey — but had been rejected. He then applied to King’s College in New York City. After the Revolutionary War, Hamilton was one of the men who restored King’s College, which had been suspended since 1776, as Columbia. The cornerstone for Hamilton Hall was laid on September 27, 1905, and construction was completed two years later, the McKim, Mead & White building being the first on the Morningside Heights campus dedicated to the undergraduate college. It still houses the Office of the Dean and the Office of Undergraduate Admissions as well as four departmental offices — Germanic Languages, Slavic Languages, Classics and Italian Languages — plus the Center for Race and Ethnicity, faculty offices and 37 classrooms ranging from intimate seminar rooms to large lecture halls. An expansive Center for the Core Curriculum was opened in 2004, when the building was rededicated. The lobby also was refurbished and features the restoration of two grand, vintage Tiffany stained-glass windows that were originally part of the midtown campus. The original Hamilton Hall opened in 1880 as part of the campus on Madison Avenue at 49th Street.
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