The Art of Unity

This semester has seen its share of particularly divisive figures visiting campus. Unfortunately, the administration has overlooked a potential unifying factor, and one that worked well: the Artist in Residence Program. By attempting to recreate the success of Vaclav Havel’s visit in the fall of 2006, Columbia would give the entire University community something positive to rally around and offer students the opportunity to interact with significant philosophical and cultural ideas.

One of the defining features of the Havel visit was that the entire University could participate on some level. Whether through Lit Hum discussions, plays, and forums, every student had an opportunity to engage with the work of a major world leader. The Havel events also functioned as a positive backbone for the semester. Whatever else was happening on campus, the work of an important artist and progressive global political figure was always newsworthy.

Columbia has the resources to recreate the successes of the Havel visit. It’s a prominent University, and, like the World Leader’s Forum, this is exactly the sort of activity that academic endowments exist to fund. Even if the University limited the pool of potential artists to those who have spent time on campus in the past, there would still be an impressive list of important artists like Joan Didion and Adrienne Rich, and political figures such as Sandara Day O’Connor and Bill Clinton. The University could even orient the visit around an individual whose work relates to issues that have recently caused controversy at the University. Edward P. Jones and Harryette Mullen are both plausible nominees whose work speaks to this semester’s difficulties with diversity and tolerance.

Enabling artists and thinkers to communicate their work to students is one of the purposes of the University as an institution. At the same time, Columbia undoubtedly benefits from giving students access to events throughout the semester that celebrate positive achievement. Conflict is inevitable at a school that attracts politically active students, but Columbia also attracts students who want a world class education, and access to world class figures can unite even the politically divided.