Results tagged “leebollinger”

We're at Columbia University for the ServiceNation Summit. Security is tight--university entrances are closed to students and Columbia employees only--and students are sitting outside to watch a livefeed of the forum in the middle of campus. The forum with Barack Obama and John McCain will air at 8 p.m. on CNN, MSNBC, and some PBS stations. You can also watch it online at the ServiceNation website.

Officials at Columbia University say they will not invite Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak on campus this fall. Spokesman Robert Hornsby told the Daily News, "It has not been the practice to have any repeat speakers among those who have already appeared at the university's World Leaders Forum series," but of course, it's unclear whether Ahmedinejad would even accept again, considering Columbia President Lee Bollinger called him a "petty and cruel dictator", which earned Bollinger the #1 "Awkward Moment" for 2007, per Time magazine.

...for being totally rude! It's actually not the kind of #1 ranking Bollinger would prefer, as it's for Time's Top 10 Awkward Moments of 2007 list. As Bwog points out, Bollinger deftly bypasses "David Hasselhoff, David Vitter, Rosie, Paris, Miss Teen South Carolina, Caroline Giuliani, and (wait for it) BRITNEY SPEARS" for his introduction of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last September, calling him a "petty and cruel dictator." Ahmadinejad earns the #2 spot on Time's...

The old saw is that one can't fight City Hall, and we can apparently add the ivory tower to the bulwarks of imperviousness. Despite fierce community opposition, Columbia University will be expanding its upper-Manhattan campus to surrounding blocks. The plan to expand the university's property by 17 acres and several blocks in each direction was approved this afternoon by the New York City Planning Commission. CityRoom reports the neighborhood meeting wasn't exactly neighborly:A majority...

The Chronicle of Higher Education released its annual salary survey of the heads of educational institutions and the value of a college education is evidenced in the paychecks being cashed by institutions' presidents. More than a dozen heads of private universities took home more than $1 million during the 2005-06 school year. According to the New York Post, the dean of higher earning was Donald Ross, who took home $5.7 million--most in deferred compensation after...

Six anonymous students at Columbia University have gone on a hunger strike to protest the administration's attitude and position on a number of issues, including Columbia's plans for West Harlem/Manhatanville, a series of hate crimes on campus and lack of an ethnic studies program. You can see the full list of demands at the strikers website, as well as explanations for questions like "Why now?"The recent acts of hate on this campus have lent urgency...

Yesterday morning, a swastika and a caricature of a yarmulke-wearing man were found in a building at Columbia University. This is the second hate crime in as many days found at the school's campus - a noose was found on the door of a Teachers College professor earlier this week.

The professor at Columbia University's Teacher College whose office door was found with a noose on it spoke out for the first time yesterday. Madonna Constantine told students that gathered for a rally, "This is a heinous and highly upsetting incident. I am upset that our community has been exposed to a blatantly vile incident like this. It is an act of cowardice. I would like the perpetrator to know that I will not be silenced."

Faculty and students are reeling after a noose was found on the door of a black professor's office at Columbia University's Teachers College yesterday. The NYPD's Hate Crime task force is investigating the incident and the professor has been identified in the media as Professor Madonna Constantine, whose interests are listed as "Cultural competence in counseling, training, and supervision. Mental health issues of people of color in the United States and immigrants. Vocational issues of adolescents and college students of color."

Columbia University has weathered storm of criticism for inviting Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at its World Leader Forum yesterday. Columbia president Lee Bollinger had said that critical questions would be posed, and he wasn't kidding: Before Ahmadinejad spoke, Bollinger gave a lengthy speech that attacked the leader's positions and intelligence, said he exhibited "all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator," and called him ridiculous. You can read Bollinger's speech here, but here are his final words:

Let me close with this comment. Frankly, and in all candor, Mr. President, I doubt that you will have the intellectual courage to answer these questions. But your avoiding them will in itself be meaningful to us. I do expect you to exhibit the fanatical mindset that characterizes so much of what you say and do. Fortunately, I am told by experts on your country, that this only further undermines your position in Iran with all the many good-hearted, intelligent citizens there. A year ago, I am reliably told, your preposterous and belligerent statements in this country (as in your meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations) so embarrassed sensible Iranian citizens that this led to your party’s defeat in the December mayoral elections. May this do that and more.

Continue reading "Columbia President Praised For Smacking Down Ahmadinejad"

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke today, giving a speech and sort of answers some of questions posed by Columbia University President Lee Bollinger and School of International and Public Affairs Dean John Coatsworth. We're sure video and transcripts will come shortly, but in the meant time, The Bwog, New York, and City Room have been liveblogging the speech. Here's a sample of questions posed, via the City Room:

In response to a question about the treatment of homosexuals in Iran, Mr. Ahmadinejad was initially evasive, instead talking about the death penalty, which, he pointed out, exists in the United States: “People who violate the laws by using guns, creating insecurity selling guns, distributing guns at a high level are sentenced to execution in Iran. Very few of these punishments are carried out in the public eye.”

Continue reading "Ahmadinejad Speaks, People Listen, Applaud, Boo, Hiss"

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is visiting Columbia University today to give a speech for the World Leaders Forum. And he continued to get a big New York-style welcome: The Daily News has its "The Evil Has Landed" cover while Assemblyman Dov Hikind told protesters outside Columbia's gates yesterday, “He should be arrested when he comes to Columbia University, not speak at the university, for God’s sake. I call on New Yorkers to make the life of Ahmadinejad as he is in New York miserable.”

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to New York is sure going to be a doozey. He may have decided not to visit Ground Zero anymore, but his appearance at Columbia University, to participate in a World Leaders Forum, has many people upset.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is getting a lot of ink in our newspapers today after it was revealed that (A) he had requested a visit to Ground Zero - to lay a wreath, no less - and then shortly later that (B) the city had denied the request. Way to work fast, city agencies!

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.

It's a mixed bag for Columbia today. The school was probably happy to find out that it ranked 9th in U.S News & World Report's latest top college ranking issues, but it's no fun to learn that its billion-dollar Manhattanville project was rejected by a community board committee.

The Observer's Matthew Schuerman has a few interesting stories about Columbia's Manhattanville expansion plans. An article published today looks at how the University of Pennsylvania's successful (and more community-embraced) urban transformation could potentially inform Columbia's plans, now that former Penn president Judith Rodin's book, The University & Urban Revival has hit the bookshelves. Rodin, now the president of the Rockefeller Foundation, only says that the conversations she has had with Columbia president Lee Bollinger have been minimal. She also said, "Columbia has a much tougher job. They are incredibly landlocked and so the stakes are even higher. Unless [Columbia and the community] work together, it is not going to work."

The NY Observer has the details on the negotiations between Columbia and its West Harlem neighbors. The university claims to own 67.5 percent of the 17 acres it wants to develop from 125th to 133rd streets between Broadway and Twelve Avenue - leading to a scramble for the 20 percent owned by the MTA and other public agencies and the remaining 12 percent that is privately held.

Yesterday, Columbia University president Lee Bollinger sent a letter explaining the school's response to the incident where student protesters and members of the Minutemen Project got into an unseemly brawl during a College Republican sponsored talk. The full text of the letter is after the jump; here's the pertinent part about punishment:

Third, there has been a comprehensive review of security at student events. In this case, an examination of the facts shows that Columbia University Public Safety personnel (both in uniform and a number in plainclothes) restored order within a few short moments. Still, it is always a sad day for academic freedom when disruption makes speech impossible. For the future, we will accordingly have additional security measures in place. It is, of course, unfortunate that such protective measures are necessary in a campus environment that depends on openness and human connection. Nevertheless, we must strike the balance between an environment that fosters self-regulation of behavior by young adults and the visible security presence necessary to ensure the safety of all participants at student sponsored events.

Continue reading "Bollinger's End of the Term Letter about Columbia's Minutemen Incident"

The conflicting interests of Columbia University and the West Harlem community continue to spawn new polemics from both sides, as the university inches ahead with its proposed 17-acre, $7 billion expansion. As the land-use contest heats up, so has the quest to find the perfect metaphor. The high-stakes name game begins with the conflicting designations of the territory in question. While Columbia has used the term "Manhattanville" to describe the area, which lies between 125th and 133rd Streets, many community advocates resolutely refer to it as "West Harlem," emphasizing its connection to nearby residential and commercial districts. The Times recently called on Columbia to drop the archaic name and face up to the neighborhood's true character.

Who would residents say is the worse neighbor - Columbia or NYU? For today, at least, the controversy surrounds Columbia, plus the Department of Education. Columbia and the DOE will be opening a secondary magnet public school this fall for sixth through twelfth grade. The school will eventually be located on the university's planned Manhattanville campus, but until the building is completed, the DOE has decided to put the school in PS 36, a pre-K to second grade school on Morning Side Drive and West 121st. Enter the angry parents.

Yesterday, the NY Times looked at Columbia President - and First Amendement scholar - Lee Bollinger's free speech stance given this incident as well as many other instances at the the school were speech seems to have been shut down. And did you see Jim Gilchrist on The Colbert Report? Stephen Colbert didn't run across the stage from his desk to the interview area - it was probably in Gilchrist's rider that no one approach him suddenly before speaking.

Members of Columbia University's Chicano Caucus and International Socialist Organization had a press conference yesterday to discuss the fallout from last week's clash with the Minutemen group on campus. The protesters said they didn't mean to stop the Minutemen's head from speaking when they went on stage, but, as the Chicano Caucus' political chair reasoned, "We are sure that if the Ku Klux Klan came to campus, African Americans would be there to protest. So would we." The protesters also emphasized that the violence was instigated by the Minutemen and College Republicans - not the protesters.

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"

The ruling, which also put the club on probation for two years, cited the team's failure to get the fliers approved by the department as the primary reason for the punishment.

-- And in an unfortunate segue: Happy Jewish new year! Shana tovah, everybody!

Mothers and fathers, don't just dream about your children being doctors (well, doctors might be passe, given malpractice coverage), lawyers or hedge fund managers: Have them set their sights on being the president of a major university. amNew York has a feature on salaries of NYC college/university presidents. The presidents are mostly charged with fund-raising, hence needing a real "performer" that gets a sweet compensation package, but the money they make can be pretty sick (note: private institutions pay more, natch).

Columbia's attempt to raise its rankings is featured in the NY Times today, as it begins to embark on a $4 billion campaign over the next seven years. Damn you, U.S. News & World Report for your listings! Columbia's $4 billion-seven year derby is supposedly the biggest ever for a university, and many experts feel its inevitable schools will be calling for more and more money. And Columbia's desire to break out is because of what the Times calls two "longstanding constraints: space and money to grow." Huh, those are like the longstranding constraints of anyone living in the city - space and the money to get that space (or just live in the city).

Family members identified a body found in the East River as Richard Ng, a Columbia senior who had been missing in the weeks leading up to graduation. The autopsy was inconclusive, but police believe Ng commited suicide over his grades. Newsday reports that friends told police that "Ng had done poorly in at least one class and would not have been able to graduate Wednesday on time with the rest of his class." It's also believed that Ng commited suicide by jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge, given where his body was found and that his computer showed he researched the bridge. It's such a shame that Ng was so despondent, perhaps about his school work, perhaps about other things, that he felt he needed to take his life. We hope that Columbia and other schools continue take the time to work with students who may be grappling with all sorts of stress and make sure they know what resources are open to them.

Columbia University excitedly announced that the Jerome L. Greene Foundation was donating $200 million for a brand new neuroscience center, The Jerome L. Greene Science Center, to study the mind, brain and behavior. This is the largest private gift ever to a university to create one facility. We say, hoorah for the alma mater, and while more research for the human mind is wonderful, we do wish more could be done to lower tuition. At any rate, Columbia President Lee Bollinger continues to love the life sciences. (On a Bollinger tangent, Gothamist doesn't think he'd ever open up his house to a thousand happy Columbia students after a big football win the way he did in Michigan because we doubt that many students even go to the games and the NYPD would probably have a heart attack.) And we're interested in knowing how the Greene Foundation is so loaded - sure, he was a real estate lawyer, but those must have been some sweet investments.