Results tagged “columbiacollege”

In 2006, the graduating class of Columbia's undergraduate college had Senator John McCain as a Class Day speaker. Last year, it was actor Matthew Fox. And this year's speaker will be...Schools Chancellor Joel Klein! To which seniors said, "I don't know anything about him" and "I have no idea who he is."

Columbia security, get that riot gear ready! Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project, the pseudo-militia that patrols the border, tells the Columbia Spectator that, yes, he's up for a repeat appearance.

TV star Matthew Fox went to his alma mater today to give the Class Day speech at Columbia College. Fox, class of 1989, was a controversial speaker choice amongst the Columbia community, given that other Columbia University schools had, er, Nobel Laureate and former Treasury Secretary types speaking. Just Jared has a partial transcript of his remarks:

“You may have an idea where you want to be in 20 years and some of you will get there. But if you do, I guarantee you won’t have let yourself take chances. Eighteen years ago sitting in these seats, as hung over as I was, I remember a sense of accomplishment & a sense of fear. In defining the future for yourselves, the safest choice may not be the best choice...

Continue reading "Matthew Fox's Class Day Speech at Columbia"

Congratulations to everyone graduating this month! As NYU's commencement was today, with speaker jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, we decided to list the many NYC commencement speakers, with help from The Chronicle of Higher Education (if we've missed any or gotten it wrong, let us know in comments):

A few weeks ago, Columbia students reeled from the news that Golden Globe-nominated, Saturn Award- and SAG Award-winning actor Matthew Fox was chosen as the class day speaker. Bwog wrote about Fox's second banana performance in We Are Marshal, which starred Matthew McConaughey: "Our Class Day speaker got upstaged by the smelliest-looking man in show business."

Apparently, sexy Hollywood beefcake is what Columbia College is trying to promote at its Class Day this year! Last year, father-of-fellow-Columbia College-student Senator John McCain spoke, to wide protest. This year, Columbia College has selected Matthew Fox, star of Lost, to be the main speaker.

Yesterday, a couple hundred Columbia students walked out to protest the war, and CTV News has video, and you'll see protesters chanting for troops to be removed as they march on and around campus (apparently there was free hot chocolate during the cold day). Interestingly, the Columbia College Democrats removed their support for the walk out "in part because of disagreements over whether to call for divestment," according to the NY Sun.

In 2005, a Columbia graduate student in statistics emailed us, noticing "a mean 10.2 and a median 8.0 rats per night" on West 108th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam. One solution was cats, another was rat snakes. But now it seems that the rats have moved to Columbia's campus. From the Columbia Spectator:

Columbia College Student Council President Seth Flaxman, CC '07, sent an e-mail to Senior Executive Vice President Robert Kasdin asking the administration to address the problem.

Continue reading "Rats Love Higher Learning"

Wednesday night's clash between immigration "watchdog" group the Minutemen and Columbia University student protesters has even pulled Mayor Bloomberg into the frazy. During his radio show, Mayor Bloomberg said university president Lee Bollinger has "got to get his hands around this. There are too many incidents at the same school where people get censored." Case in point: School of International Affairs needing to uninvite President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from speaking because the school couldn't coordinate security logistics in time. Of course, it is interesting that Bollinger's specialty is free speech. Anyway, Bollinger released a university-wide statement:

Columbia University has always been, and will always be, a place where students and faculty engage directly with important public issues. We are justifiably proud of the traditions here of intellectual inquiry and vigorous debate. The disruption on Wednesday night that resulted in the termination of an event organized by the Columbia College Republicans in Lerner Hall represents, in my judgment, one of the most serious breaches of academic faith that can occur in a university such as ours.

Continue reading "Columbia Students Vs. Minutemen Free Speech Dispute Continues to Simmer"

Today marked the last leg of John McCain's "Commencement Speech Tour '06" - his controversial gig at the New School. His website has the text of his speech already, because it's the same as his speeches at Columbia College and Liberty Unviersity (which is a bit disturbing, because they are somewhat different audiences, in spite of all being graduates). Here's one passage that speaks to different opinions:

We have our disagreements, we Americans. We contend regularly and enthusiastically over many questions: over the size and purposes of our government; over the social responsibilities we accept in accord with the dictates of our conscience and our faithfulness to the God we pray to; over our role in the world and how to defend our security interests and values in places where they are threatened. These are important questions; worth arguing about. We should contend over them with one another. It is more than appropriate, it is necessary that even in times of crisis, especially in times of crisis, we fight among ourselves for the things we believe in. It is not just our right, but our civic and moral obligation.

Since Senator John McCain will be speaking at the Columbia College Class Day no matter what, students are planning on protesting him before the festivities. They are going to gather at 8:30AM on Tuesday, May 16, to protest and distribute literature, though we're not sure if they are going to sit out Class Day itself and boycott the ceremony from 10AM-12:30PM. But they have set up the website, mccainatcolumbia.com to discuss the issue, with sections about McCain's views on gay rights, abortion, Iraq, and his speaking at Liberty University. You can also add comments that may be distributed on Class Day.

Senator John McCain is facing a very tough crowd outside of the Beltway. Students and professors alike at the New School are upset over his selection as the commencement speaker. New School president, fellow Vietnam vet, and former McCain colleague Bob Kerrey selected McCain as a commencement speaker because he's "one of the world's most important leaders," as Kerrey explained to the Times. But a lot of the student and faculty population feels differently, as hundreds of people signed a petition arguing that McCain shouldn't speak, noting that his positions on the war and a woman's right to choose, and a bunch of people protested outside the New School office yesterday. However, Kerrey is sticking to the plan and keeping McCain on the speaking list.

Columbia University sent out its admissions letters on Wednesday, and clever applicants figured out a way to see if they were admitted before the mail actually arrived. Apparently, the admissions officers were photographed sending out the "yes" letters via FedEx, while the rejections went out via USPS. As soon as the photo was published in the Spec, applicants picked up on it: