PARIS—To celebrate the launch of Columbia’s newest Global Center in Paris, University President Lee Bollinger and several dozen Columbia alumni, administrators, and faculty members put on their best attire for a cocktail party at the Hotel Ritz Paris.
The March 15 launch of the Columbia Global Center in Paris marks the third installment of a growing network of international centers that the University is developing to increase its presence abroad. Columbia opened its first two global centers last year in Amman, Jordan and Beijing, China.
The celebratory cocktail party featured countless glasses of champagne, an array of delicate pastries, and words of welcome from Bollinger, who had just arrived in Paris with his wife four hours earlier. He jokingly warned the crowd that due to his fatigue, “I take no responsibility for anything I say tonight.”
Bollinger first addressed Columbia’s general state of affairs. “The University is doing extremely well,” he said. This well-being, Bollinger stated, is even stronger now because of the new space that will be coming from both the Northwest Corner Building and the Manhattanville expansion.
“For a quarter of a century, Columbia has basically been out of space,” Bollinger said. But thanks to the Manhattanville expansion, which Bollinger says is “ready to go,” and the construction of the
Northwest Corner Building, which “will house the greatest work on the brain anywhere on the planet,” the problem seems to be solved—though Bollinger conceded that the Manhattanville expansion has been “controversial.”
Bollinger then went on to discuss Columbia’s growing role as a “global university” and its place in the international community. He expressed his belief that the Global Centers “will make it possible for students and faculty to reach out to others in the community and become a global university,” as well as give students the experiences and tools they need in order to contribute to the world.
In a statement issued on March 15, Vice President for Global Centers Kenneth Prewitt said, “The focus of these Global Centers is establishing a new, interactive network of partnerships abroad and collaborations across traditional academic disciplines to address complex global challenges that are not as easily addressed by the many bi-lateral partnerships Columbia has long had in many parts of the world.”
“I think it’s a wonderful and ambitious program that is much needed, and I look forward to seeing what the outcome will be,” said Gillian Wachsman, GS ’94, who attended the celebration. “It’s exciting, really, to see the school taking that leap.”
The official launch of the Global Center took place the following day at Reid Hall in Paris. Speakers including Bollinger, University Provost Claude Steele, and Prewitt spoke about the role of a “global university” and Columbia’s plans for the future.
COMMENTS
Comments will be moderated in accordance with our comment policy