Columbia College Today
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Fall 2018 CCTColumbia College Today Nearly 100 years ago, Columbia College altered the landscape of American higher education with a pioneering experiment now known as the Core Curriculum. Today, the Core to Commencement campaign — the College’s first-ever — seeks to create other life-altering experiences for our students and the faculty who teach them. Join us in the next phase of this ambitious endeavor to make Columbia College the greatest undergraduate experience possible — one that we will all take pride in. Wellness and Beyond the Teaching and Access and The Core at 100 Community Classroom Mentoring Support college.columbia.edu/campaign [email protected] Contents features 14 Better Call Khadijah From the courtroom to the boardroom, Khadijah Sharif-Drinkard ’93 is a force for positive change. By Molly Shea 18 The Hometown Historian Associate Professor Frank A. Guridy feels “a real responsibility” to bettering the College community. By Jill C. Shomer 22 Dante’s Infernal Inbox A divine comedy for the modern age. By Susanna Wolff ’10 Cover: Illustration by Jorge Colombo Contents departments alumninews 3 Message from Dean James J. Valentini 31 Message from CCAA President On finding your groove, from Core Michael Behringer ’89 to Commencement. Five reasons to be excited about the new academic year. 4 The Big Picture 32 Lions Josh Martin ’13; Jennifer Lee ’90, GSAS’98; and 6 Within the Family Bill Isler’ 03, plus other alumni newsmakers. 7 Letters to the Editor 36 Bookshelf Amsterdam Exposed: An American’s Journey into 8 Around the Quads the Red Light District, by David Wienir ’95. Columbia’s Freedom and Citizenship program marks 10 years. 38 Class Notes Alumni Sons and Daughters; Just Married! 13 Roar, Lion, Roar Athletics Hall of Fame adds its newest members. 85 Obituaries Henry L. King ’48 26 Columbia Forum: Young China: How the Restless Generation Will Change Their 88 The Last Word Country and the World by Zak Dychtwald ’12 On his 50th reunion, a CC’68 alumnus rows Charting the rise of a powerful new generation. around Manhattan to honor a fallen classmate. LION’S DEN | SEPT. 20 Now on CCT Online CCT “I’ll never forget my first trip to Le Pavillon on 57th Street. I was PRINT EXTRAS THE LATEST with a sophisticated girl from • President Lee C. Bollinger remembers Sarah Lawrence who knew this Gerry Lenfest LAW’58 TAKE FIVE | JULY 13 scene that I did not. Trying to be adventurous, I ordered my first • Bill Isler ’03, on the Chinese spirit baijiu “Truthfully, I wouldn’t do artichaut vinaigrette. I had no idea • Thank you to our FY18 CCT donors anything over. I made great what to do with it. So I took one of lifelong friends, played in New the leaves and put it in my mouth York City, witnessed incredible and nearly choked to death. My performances at the Met Opera date was doing her best to keep a Like Columbia College Alumni and BAM and St. Ann’s, held straight face and not humiliate me facebook.com/alumnicc up a sweaty, pre-platinum, in the midst of the rich and famous. crowd-surfing Lady Gaga in View Columbia College alumni photos ‘Do you like it?’ she asked. a tiny dance club, sat two instagram.com/alumniofcolumbiacollege “‘It’s a little … ’ I searched for the uncomfortable feet away from word. ‘Chewy. A tad chewy.’” Follow Ahmadinejad v. Bollinger and @Columbia_CCAA — Vanity Fair contributor William bumped up against global Stadiem ’69, from “Food for Thought” Join the Columbia College alumni network perspectives in a challenging college.columbia.edu/alumni/linkedin and diverse environment.” — Actor Kurt Kanazawa ’11 college.columbia.edu/cct Columbia EILEEN BARROSO College CCT Today VOLUME 46 NUMBER 1 Message from the Dean FALL 2018 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Finding Your Groove Alexis Boncy SOA’11 EXECUTIVE EDITOR his semester, we welcomed the Class of 2022 to Columbia College. New Stu- Lisa Palladino dent Orientation Program leaders, a group of dedicated and enthusiastic student volunteers, greeted families on College Walk and walked the students to their DEPUTY EDITOR new homes. It was a busy day, filled with introductions, activities and, eventually, Jill C. Shomer T some bittersweet goodbyes. ASSOCIATE EDITOR This year, student leaders selected “Find Your Groove” as their orientation theme. They wanted Anne-Ryan Heatwole JRN’09 to convey to incoming students that the College offers many opportunities for finding your iden- FORUM EDITOR tity and settling into your new community. When I became dean of the College seven years ago, Rose Kernochan BC’82 I found an unanticipated groove. Though I had been a member of the chemistry faculty for more than 20 years, being dean offered a much broader engagement with Columbia students and ART DIRECTOR faculty than I had previously experienced. As Eson Chan I transitioned into my new role, my eyes and mind opened up to many possibilities. And Published quarterly by the what I found was exceptional. Columbia College Office of You’ve heard me say that Columbia is the Alumni Affairs and Development greatest college in the greatest university in for alumni, students, faculty, parents the greatest city in the world. I believe that and friends of Columbia College. to be true because the greatness of an edu- ASSOCIATE DEAN, cational institution is really measured by the COLUMBIA COLLEGE opportunities it affords, and by that measure ALUMNI RELATIONS Columbia College is remarkable. AND COMMUNICATIONS One such measure can be seen in our Bernice Tsai ’96 KILLIAN YOUNG Core to Commencement campaign, the first campaign exclusively devoted to Columbia ADDRESS College’s students and faculty. When we launched this effort two and a half years ago, we Columbia College Today set out to enhance every part of the undergraduate experience to ensure it was the best pos- Columbia Alumni Center sible. We have had tremendous success. Alumni, parents and friends have rallied in support 622 W. 113th St., MC 4530, 4th Fl. of a shared belief that the College is an institution that will help shape the future of society. New York, NY 10025 The campaign has secured new endowed professorships, created almost 1,000 funded summer PHONE experiences and established initiatives that increase the offerings to undergraduates in both 212-851-7852 business and the field of civil and political rights. Recently we decided to expand Core to Commencement to a goal of $750 million, from EMAIL our original goal of $400 million. The campaign will continue to raise support for faculty [email protected] and students while enhancing wellness and community, increasing the real-world experi- WEB ences students will have beyond the classroom and developing greater access and support college.columbia.edu/cct for all students. It will also propel the Core Curriculum — as we approach its centennial in 2019 — in order to extend the experience and its imprint into the next 100 years. ISSN 0572-7820 We hope we can continue to count on your commitment to support the growth of this Opinions expressed are those of great institution. Visit college.columbia.edu/campaign to learn more about our campaign, the authors and do not reflect about our vision and about why this is the moment to support our future. An education at official positions of Columbia College Columbia College can prepare thousands of young people each year to help build a better or Columbia University. world not just for themselves, but also for us all. © 2018 Columbia College Today All rights reserved. James J. Valentini Dean Fall 2018 CCT 3 theBigPicture 4 CCT Fall 2018 THE WELCOME WAGON New Student Orientation Program leaders cheered the Class of 2022 at Convocation on August 26. EILEEN BARROSO Fall 2018 CCT 5 Within the Family Happy New Year! s we were putting together the Fall Guridy is the new faculty coordinator for the Mel- issue, I realized it had been a while lon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program, since I’d written this column. Too which puts underserved students on the path to A long, frankly. I found myself missing a Ph.D. And Khadijah Sharif-Drinkard ’93, VP, this chance to talk to you about the issue and also associate general counsel with Viacom Media Net- CCT in general — how we’re changing, what we’re works, is answering the question, how can you be a excited about, the questions on our team’s collective social activist and do good from within a company? mind or the questions we have for you, our com- “Columbia Forum,” meanwhile, excerpts a new munity of readers. With that thought, I had one of book by Zak Dychtwald ’12, whose research into my New Year’s resolutions (because, as anyone who China’s millennials unpacks the far-reaching influ- JÖRG MEYER marches to the academic calendar knows, the start ence of a powerful new generation. of the fall semester is the real new year): No matter A note on our cover: We decided to try some- how busy the dash to production, I would be sure to thing different by commissioning a stand-alone take a break to reflect and write this page. illustration. I had the good fortune of taking the So, how are we changing? What are we excited artist, Jorge Colombo, on a campus tour in mid- about these days? August to scout locations and consider possible To begin, our new “Around the Quads” depart- scenes. In many ways, it was an exercise in imagi- ment, “Hall of Fame.” We’ve invited the eloquent nation: We were circling Van Am Quad on a and inimitable Thomas Vinciguerra ’85, JRN’86, steamy day, paths and benches empty, and the sky GSAS’90 — who has an insatiable appetite both threatening rain, while on his iPad Jorge conjured for history and all things Columbia — to write each fall foliage, cool-weather clothing and the bustle of quarter on an alum or school figure from the deeper students all around.