Fireside Chat

It’s been a little while since I’ve something significant to write about, but tonight is one of those nights. The President of the University, Lee Bollinger, hosts a series of ‘Fireside Chats’ at his home, the official residence for the school’s president, once or twice a semester. Attendance is limited to say about 30 students, and is basically raffled off. When the email goes out announcing another one is being held, you reply if you’re interested, then they draw names out a hat (or the whatever the electronic equivalent is).
I put my name in this last time around, and was very pleased that I was selected. So I went this evening, and was not disappointed. The residence itself is very nice, the lower floors are designed for hosting guests, and the upper floors are the personal apartments. The entire place really has that old world, smoking room & dining parlor feel to it, very different from Seattle, but very nice. Snacks & drinks were served, people arrived at 6:30 and loitered around for 20 minutes or so, then the president came down and we started the chat. Truth be told, the funny thing was when he stepped off the elevator I was the only one standing right next to it, so I was the very first person to get to shake his hand and greet him. And what am I doing right as he steps off the elevator? Of course, I’m eating, and I’m eating something made of chocolate and getting it all over my fingers, obviously. You know, it’s like a law, you want to make a good impression, and clearly, you burp, or spill salsa on your shirt, or commit any number of other minor slip-ups that are bound to happen. But I didn’t lose my composure too badly, I was able to take it in stride, so I still got to shake his hand. Found out that he’s from the west coast actually, both he and his wife. His undergrad was from U of O, before he came to Columbia to study law.
The talk didn’t disappoint; President Bollinger is a thoughtful, articulate, and courageous speaker. He’s actually quite soft spoken, which surprised me for some reason. But he’s a man who cares deeply about intellectual life, and fosters a keen academic curiosity, within himself and those around him. The schedule called for him to speak from about 7 till 7:45 or so, but he actually took questions until after 8:30, extremely generous with his time. And he talked for 20 minutes or so, and then answered questions and really took all comers. The students of course were considerate and respectful, which I was glad for because I don’t automatically assume they will be, but they did ask some very direct questions (why doesn’t the school have better financial aid policies, what about the school’s planned expansion & displacement of current residents in those areas, why isn’t Columbia more like other Ivies in X, Y, or Z ways). In all of them, his answers were honest, thoughtful, and direct, he didn’t shy away from anything. There were a few questions that he … deferred, but they were reasonable; one student asked about child care for older students with families, he said yes, it is a priority and the school plans to expand it. When she asked when, he simply smiled and said ASAP, then asked for the next question. I also got the chance to ask him a question (of all the luminaries, scholars, and public figures you’ve met, who have left the greatest impression on you and why?), he said actually the two biggest were his wife, and a law professor he had in school who was to him the example of an ideal scholar, a man who possessed an extraordinary range of insight into almost any matter, even those outside his field.
Once he dismissed the students, people stayed afterwards a bit more to continue chatting, but broke up fairly quickly. I said goodbyes to a few other people I knew there, then headed home myself. This is actually the second event like this I’ve been able to attend this semester; the first was a faculty dinner in which students were selected to invite a professor of theirs to dinner. I invited my Chinese instructor, Professor Xurong Kong (pronounced shoe-wrong), and we had a great evening discussing Confucius. As I walked home from the event tonight, something President Bollinger said during the talk stuck with me. “We are all extremely fortunate to be here, in this environment where we have so much.”I thought about that a lot. This hasn’t been the easiest semester, for several reasons. But it’s still an amazing school, and an amazing opportunity. And I think he’s right about what he said. Worth thinking about, in any case …