5 MINUTES WITH ... JOHN W. KLUGE ’37, dr. JOHN CLARKE ’93 HISTORY PROFESSOR BUSINESSMAN AND RAPS FOR THE MARTHA HOWELL BENEFACTOR, DIES AT 95 HEALTH OF IT paGE 12 paGE 4 paGE 22 Columbia College TODAY November/December 2010 Kyle Smith Takes the Helm in Levien Gym New men’s basketball coach hopes to lift Lions to next level Thisiv eholiday Your season,sel treatf a yourselfGift. to the benefi ts and privileges of the GColumbia University Club of New York. See how the club and its activities could fit into your life. For more information or to apply, visit www.columbiaclub.org or call (212) 719-0380. The Columbia University Club of New York in residence at 15 West 43 St., New York, NY 10036 Columbia’s SocialIntellectualCulturalRecreationalProfessional Resource in Midtown. Columbia College Today Contents 8 18 14 22 33 24 COVER STORY ALUMNI NEWS DEPARTMENTS 32 2 K YLE SMITH TA K E S THE REIN S B OO ks HELF LETTE rs TO THE 18 Featured: Danielle Evans EDITO R New men’s basketball coach Kyle Smith says if ’04’s debut work, Before You 3 WITHIN THE FAMILY Cornell can climb to the top of the Ivy League, why Suffocate Your Own Fool Self, not Columbia? a collection of short stories. 4 AR OUND THE QUAD S 4 By Alex Sachare ’71 34 Remembering O BITUA R IE S John W. Kluge ’37 6 36 C LA ss NOTE S Austin E. Quigley Theatre Dedicated FEATURES A LUMNI UPDATE S 6 Alumni in the News 54 Dr. Francis Collini ’78 7 New Sustainable T HEY COULDN ’ T LEAVE HOME 57 14 Steve Perlman ’83 Development Major W ITHOUT IT 65 Emily Landsburg ’01 8 Convocation for CCT asked members of the Class of 2014 to show us 72 Class of 2014 A LUMNI CO R NE R 8 Kenneth Cole the one special item they had to bring with them to Two young alumni, Arianne Sponsors Community the College. Richard ’10 and Jeffrey Spear Engagement Program Photos by Daniella Zalcman ’09 ’10, discuss how they lived 10 Campus News with celiac disease while on 12 5 Minutes with … D R . JOHN CLA rk E ’93 RAP S campus. Martha Howell 22 13 Roar, Lion, Roar FO R THE HEALTH OF IT Physician and rapper Dr. John Clarke ’93 spreads Web Exclusives at college.columbia.edu/cct positive healthcare messages through rhyme. By Kim Martineau ’97J ROA R LION S Watch the press conference introducing Kyle Smith as the C OLUMBIA FO R UM new head coach of the men’s basketball team. 24 Award-winning novelist Daniel Alarcón ’99 asked 54 JOHN CLA rk E ’93, DO C TO R AND RAPPE R great writers to describe how they do what they do. Get in the groove with two of Clarke’s hit educational rap videos. The result is The Secret Miracle: The Novelist’s Handbook. MEMO R IE S F R OM HOME Don’t be embarrassed about that teddy bear you hid under CCT DONO rs 2009–10 your pillow. See a slideshow of the cherished treasures the 28 Thank you to the alumni, parents, friends and Class of 2014 couldn’t leave home without. organizations who donated to CCT. FIVE MO R E MINUTE S Watch Professor Martha Howell discuss the challenges FRONT COVER: New men’s basketball coach Kyle Smith works with forward of starting a gender studies program. Issa Mase ’12. PHOTO: DANIELLA ZALCMAN ’09 COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY Letters to the Editor John W. Kluge ’37 of the music way back when, I was a first Volume 38 Number 2 “ … the tears just froze … ” tenor in those days. I’m a bass-baritone to- November/December 2010 I was sitting in my office. It was a slow day, so even the familiar was unfamiliar. EDITOR AND PUBLISHER The bottom line is that it was a thrill to get Alex Sachare ’71 Thursday, Rosh Hashanah, and my col- league Anna Jim ’84 Barnard called over to together with so many Glee Clubbers from MANAGING EDITOR so many years to prepare and deliver a de- Lisa Palladino me, “Did you hear that John Kluge died?” manding program. It was a thrill to sing ASSOCIATE EDITOR Just then, the sky became a bit darker. All Ethan Rouen ’04J of a sudden the world was a little poorer, with, among others, my brother Elliott ’60. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, ADVERTISING sadder. Then, almost on cue, the latest My sincere thanks to Nick and all the oth- Taren Cowan copy of CCT [September/October] landed ers who made this terrific event happen, FORUM EDITOR on my desk. As I read about Kluge, his ear- including my old buddy Jerry Weale ’57; Rose Kernochan ’82 Barnard ly trials, his spunk, his integrity, his many I can remember how excited the CUGC CONTRIBUTING WRITER leadership was when this red-headed su- Shira Boss ’93, ’97J, ’98 SIPA contributions, his love for Columbia and perb musician showed up as a new recruit. EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS for his guardian Gracia DaRatt, my own Samantha Jean-Baptiste ’13 tears started to well up. He never disappointed us! Atti Viragh ’12 GS Thanks to John Kluge Jr. ’05, Rose Ker- A few regrets: I really missed the Glee DESIGN CONSULTANT nochan ’82 Barnard and to CCT for the fine Clubbers from ’55 and surrounding years; it Jean-Claude Suarès tribute to a great man. would have been great to have ART DIRECTOR seen more of them. I especially Gates Sisters Studio Eric Dannemann ’67 missed Aaron Preiser ’55, ’56E, WEBMASTER NEW CA N AA N , CO nn . Thomas MacLean no longer of this world. And CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Glee Club I wish that I, like Nick, might Eileen Barroso I read with great interest have been able to sing my Kim Martineau ’97J old solo (in There is a Balm in Daniella Zalcman ’09 and mixed emotions Nicho- las Rudd ’64, ’67 Business’ Gilead). Sadly, bass-baritones Published six times a year by the article on the Glee Club in can’t come close to the tenor Columbia College Office of “Alumni Corner”[September/ notes it requires. Alumni Affairs and Development. October]. I am a Glee Club Stu Kaback ’55, ’56 GSAS, For alumni, students, faculty, parents and ’60 GSAS friends of Columbia College, founded in 1754, alumnus, and I look back with the undergraduate liberal arts college of pride at the quality of our mu- CRA N FORD , N.J. Columbia University in the City of New York. sic-making during my time with the club, Mel’s Gold Rail? Address all correspondence to: including the opportunity to sing with both Columbia College Today I live in Morningside Heights and have Columbia Alumni Center the Notes and Keys and the Blue Notes. Be- watched with interest the construction of 622 W. 113th St., MC 4530 ing one who tends to keep programs and New York, NY 10025 Mel’s Burger Bar on Broadway between 212-851-7852 mementos from musical events, I find my- West 110th and 111th Streets. As it neared E-mail (editorial): [email protected]; self looking back at our 90th anniversary completion, I looked in and had a sudden (advertising): [email protected] national tour in spring 1963, which took us, college.columbia.edu/cct realization — Mel’s is the reincarnation of across a three-week period, to 10 states from ISSN 0572-7820 The Gold Rail. New York to Colorado and ended with a Opinions expressed are those of the The Gold Rail closed when I was a authors and do not reflect official concert at Lincoln Center on April 26. sophomore, in 1978. It and The West End positions of Columbia College I was saddened to learn of the club’s were the anchor student bars on Broad- or Columbia University. near-demise and heartened by its recent way at the time. The Gold Rail had cheap © 2010 Columbia College Today renaissance. I hope that the Glee Club All rights reserved. pitchers of beer, burgers and enormous returns to its former state so that future French fries — all back in the day when classes can be provided the musical op- the drinking age was 18. portunities that I feel fortunate to have Mel’s sits in the Rail’s former location on been offered. Broadway and has the same layout — bar Peter Smith ’65 on the right, tables on the left, stairs down SHARO N , MA ss . to the restrooms in the back. (There always was great graffiti in the men’s room, from This antique Glee Clubber really appreciat- the trite “eschew obfuscation” to the sad CCT welcomes letters from readers about ed Nicholas Rudd ’64, ’67 Business’ article articles in the magazine, but cannot “doesn’t anybody remember Peter Hon- print or personally respond to all letters in CCT about our recent get-together. The erkamp?”.) It is with a strong sense of déjà received. Letters express the views of Glee Club was the center of my Columbia the writers and not CCT, the College or vu that I peered through the windows. the University. Please keep letters to 250 life in the ’50s, and I was the next-to-oldest The Gold Rail folded in the economic words or fewer. All letters are subject to of the many participants at the reunion per- depths of the late 1970s. I am taking the editing for space and clarity. Please direct formance. It was especially challenging for letters for publication “TO THE EDITO R .” view that the Rail’s ghostly reappearance me, because even though I had sung much (Continued on page 70) NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010 2 COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY W ITHIN THE FAMILY A Lasting Legacy ohn W.