Community Lauds Choice of Bollinger

Morningside Heights residents have watched Columbia University
expand in a way that is more in tune with its community since
University President George Rupp took over in 1993. They see the
selection of University of Michigan President Lee Bollinger, Law
'71, as Rupp's successor as a positive continuation of the
University's recent policies.

Bollinger, who last lived in New York City when he attended
Columbia Law School, returns to Columbia from a school that was
the primary focus of Ann Arbor, a very different city from New
York.

Morningside Heights' residents expressed pleasure at Bollinger's
selection and optimism that the University's relationship with its
surroundings would improve under his tenure.

"I'm very, very pleased with the choice of Lee Bollinger,"
Community Board 9 member Joyce Hackett said. "George Rupp
has a long history of commitment to the community. We hope Lee
Bollinger takes that further."

Community Board 9 Chairman George Goodwill expressed a
similar sentiment. "I think our relationship will keep getting better,"
he said.

Some sentiments expressed by community members are similar
to those expressed by students. Goodwill's positive perception of
Rupp is solid, although like many students on the Columbia
campus, he has not had much personal contact with Rupp over
the past few years.

"I very seldom deal with him," Goodwill noted. "He has his staff, his
community people. Those are the people I deal with. We don't deal
with the president. I should hope he would delegate things. No
president can do all these things."

Many Ann Arbor residents have kind words to say about Bollinger's
personality and job performance, said resident Martha Ratliff. Ann
Arbor residents do, however, have some gripes with the school. "I
know there is some resentment about the fact that the university
doesn't pay property tax, so the more land they buy the less [public]
revenue," she said.

But Michigan defines the character of city. Ratliff said she thinks
that residents "like all of the good things that the University [of
Michigan] brings—the culture, the library. I think people like the
benefits of living in the university town."

While Ratliff said that she could not recall any "specific bridges
Bollinger has built with the community," she termed him a "real
renaissance man, not just someone who did law, and he
understood all of the different enterprises that the university is
involved with. He isn't seen as just the CEO of the university."

"The University has a great rapport with Ann Arbor," Michigan
sophomore Noah Jacobson said. "I think it's a very balanced
relationship. Community members here really seem to appreciate
all Bollinger's done for the school."

Morningside Heights residents, according to Hackett, have drafted
a "white paper," or "platform paper," detailing what they feel the
incoming president must know about the community relating to
"issues of architecture, community planning, and land use."

Columbia's relationship with the community has historically been
somewhat contentious. The conflict between the two reached its
climax in 1968, when the University proposed building a new
gymnasium in Morningside Park with a separate entrance for area
residents and University members. That decision, at the height of
the Vietnam War and Civil Rights Movement, sparked
unprecedented protests and led to the resignation of University
President Grayson Kirk.

The relationship has been positive overall since Rupp's arrival and
his appointment of Executive Vice President for Administration
Emily Lloyd, whose office directly oversees Columbia's
relationship with the community. Lloyd will stay on in her current
capacity when Bollinger assumes the presidency in July.

In the last year, the two primary areas of dissent between the
University and the community have centered on a planned School
of Social Work building on 113th Street and a planned K-8 School
and faculty residence building on Broadway at 110th Street.

"Columbia's strength is its relationship to the most vibrant city in
the world," Hackett said. "Columbia University can choose to
emulate suburban Ivy League schools or it can really say, ëThis is
our strength—we've got to use it.'"

Hackett also said she hopes that Bollinger will "encourage
students to participate in city life—in the life of their neighborhood,"
which she described as "one of the most diverse in the city."

"We have a significant Hispanic, black, and white population,"
Hackett said. "In that respect, it's a crucible for many of the urban
problems that are faced all over the country. What I most hope
Bollinger will do is bring to bear the resources of Columbia's brain
trust on solving the social issues of the neighborhood."

Although Hackett said that community members have yet to
discover what Bollinger's focus will be or how he will specifically
differ from Rupp, she said, "We are enormously delighted and
impressed with the choice."