Around 60 students joined University President Lee Bollinger on Tuesday night for rounds of brie at his personal residence—even as Bollinger urged them to pass on Paris for study abroad.
At his first fireside chat of the year, Bollinger covered familiar territory and touched on current events, discussing Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, the University’s role in an increasingly global world, and his love of nature writers.
“Attacking Wall Street and attacking the wealthy and so on is really a serious oversimplification of what America’s problems are and the causes of the crisis,” Bollinger said. “They were, in my view, significantly responsible for the collapse, but they were not the only ones.”
He said, though, that he understands the demonstrators’ anger and that Americans would be “unwise” to ignore them. Bollinger said he shares Americans’ concerns about a gap between them and their politicians. He added that he believes it may be time for the United States to draft a new constitution that can better equip the country to perform in the modern world.
Bollinger spent much of the hour discussing globalization, from the World Leaders Forum to his Global Centers initiative.
He sought student input on the World Leaders Forum, asking how many students had gone to its events—most had—and how they thought the University could improve them. Students suggested changes from easier registration to more controversial, high-profile speakers.
Bollinger stressed that he remains committed to encouraging study abroad at Columbia’s global centers and wants to push students outside of their comfort zones. He said he believes students are “risk averse” and that he wants to get them to destinations besides London and Paris.
In one of the night’s lighter moments, a student asked Bollinger about the books he was reading. Bollinger got a few laughs from the crowd with his response: “I always hate questions like that.”
In addition to two books about Pakistan , though, Bollinger said that he still has time to read Core Curriculum staples Shakespeare and Montaigne.
Tobias Fuchs, GS ’12, said he took issue with Bollinger’s characterization of the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators. He said Bollinger misrepresented the movement’s goals.
“What he basically said was Occupy Wall Street is too narrow-minded in attacking Wall Street,” Fuchs said. “Either he’s misinformed, or that was not a sincere answer.”
But both Fuchs and Rachel Chung, SEAS ’15, agreed that Bollinger’s focus on globalization was appropriate and necessary. Chung said she appreciated Bollinger’s responses and that he cleared up some of her concerns.
“I thought it was brilliant,” Chung said. “He handled tough and varying questions with ease. He didn’t gloss over anything.”
Pablo Mota, GS ’13, agreed, saying that Bollinger’s responses were reassuring. He said Bollinger’s views on issues like Occupy Wall Street and globalization were in line with his own and that he enjoyed his presentation style.
“He seems very knowledgeable about what’s happening in the world,” Mota said. “He has a plan. It gives me peace of mind.”
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