Sarkozy to speak at Columbia

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will speak at the World Leaders Forum, Columbia announced Monday—first to French majors, and then to the rest of the student body.

University President Lee Bollinger said at his latest fireside chat that Columbia would be hosting Sarkozy, though at the time the administration had not set a date.

On Monday, just a week before the event, students were informed that Sarkozy will speak at Low Library on March 29. Bollinger started the World Leaders Forum in 2003 in an effort to make Columbia a more global institution by bringing international politicians to Morningside Heights. This recent announcement came as a surprise to some students, since WLF events typically take place in the fall.

Sarkozy’s visit comes on the heels of the launch of Columbia’s newest global center in Paris, which opened on March 15. This marked the third installment of the international network of centers that the University is developing in an effort to increase its presence abroad.

Registration for the Sarkozy speech is required, and can be found on the World Leaders Forum website. Though the event is open to all students, Pierre Force, a professor of French and romance philology, sent an initial email message exclusively to French majors on Monday afternoon. An email to all students was sent out later that evening. The Maison Francaise and the Alliance Program are co-presenting the event.

Thomas Kapusta, CC ’12, who spent his spring break in Paris, said in an email, “I’m excited to find out what it is he’ll be discussing.” Referring to a regional election last week in which the conservatives lost a huge amount of posts, Kapusta said, “I’d like to see how this new political position affects his approach to speaking about any topic, domestic or otherwise.”

Emmanuelle Saada, director of the Center for French and Francophone Studies, said after the announcement that hosting Sarkozy as a speaker now is particularly meaningful, because he represents a shift in French culture and politics due to American influences.

“In France, Sarkozy is sometimes called ‘the first American president of France.’ He represents a new generation of the French elite whose culture (including political culture) is thoroughly American,” she said in an email. “This relatively new interest for America translates into a growing number of French students studying in American universities: this is especially striking at Columbia, where you can hear French many times a day throughout campus.”

Saada added of Monday’s news, “That president Sarkozy comes to Columbia is a powerful symbol of a very concrete ‘rapprochement’ [reconciliation] between France and the U.S.”