Surrounded by framed architectural blueprints of Columbia’s Morningside campus on the walls of his house on Morningside Drive, University President Lee Bollinger told about 50 undergraduates at Tuesday evening’s Fireside Chat the story of Columbia’s relationship with space.
“This is a story I tell frequently,” he said, before warning his onlookers that the question might prompt him to speak at length and holding forth on the backdrop for the University’s Manhattanville expansion today.
When Seth Low was Columbia’s president in the early 20th century, the University was tight on space. Low determined that growth could only be possible if Columbia left its small quarters at Rockefeller Center. As an alternative campus, he found an uptown farmland, known as Morningside Heights. Low was unable to raise sufficient funds, but since he felt so strongly about the demand for space, Low used his family inheritance of $1 million to move the University.
Bollinger said that he feels he is now in a similar position due to Columbia’s “ridiculous” need for space.
“I promise myself that when Manhattanville happens, I will give my inheritance to Columbia and Manhattanville too,” Bollinger said, smiling. “Believe me, it’s nothing.”
He also spoke about the importance of building a campus that anticipates the direction that academia is heading in. “We need to create conditions that will allow for Columbia to grow in the 21st century like it did in the last one.”
The most potential for new discovery lies in the fields of life sciences and globalization, he said, adding that it is for that reason that Columbia hosts the World Leaders Forum and plans to launch more Global Research Centers with academic resources on several continents.
But in addition to expounding on the direction of the University, Bollinger also addressed bread-and-butter student concerns.
When a student said that he saw Columbia as an “impersonal apparatus,” Bollinger asked for the room’s consensus on the state of student services. Reaction was mixed. Vice President for Student Auxiliary Services Scott Wright said offices try to strike the balance between being available and intrusive—which he found difficult, since Columbia students tend to be “fiercely independent.”
Bollinger also alloted a significant amount of time for discussion on the economy. Though the University does not release monthly endowment numbers, he did say that the endowment has taken a hit since the American economy plummeted in October.
Cautiously, Bollinger stressed that though the University is taking “serious steps” to prevent financial damage, “we’re also trying to keep the University’s momentum up.”
A General Studies student was upset by what she described as insufficient financial aid at her undergraduate school. Bollinger responded by saying that the inconsistency in financial aid availability stems from the level of earmarked donations to each school and is not a direct result of the recession.
Demand for financial aid is expected to increase in the current economy, but won’t be known until next semester when students file. Bollinger emphasized that Columbia is committed to need-blind financial aid, and will “go out of business” before failing to uphold that policy.
joy.resmovits@columbiaspectator.com