Since the news broke Saturday morning that President Obama will be Barnard’s Commencement speaker, Bwog has been more or less blowin’ up with commenters’ reactions. Today, the folks over at the New York Times labelled the chaos “sibling rivalry,” and asked Columbia administrators and students what they make of it.

PrezBo bit—quoteth the NYT:

Lee C. Bollinger, the president of Columbia University, drew a distinction between the harsh comments, which he said “reflect the views of hardly more than just a few people,” and the disappointment that “reflects the sense of enormous connection with the president as an alum.”

“It’s completely understandable,” he added.

DSpar got in on the action too, with a response we’ll just file under “apt.”

Debora L. Spar, the president of Barnard, said the relationship with Columbia was complicated and at times tense, but she dismissed the online commentary as what “probably is 19-year-olds writing at 4:30 in the morning.”

Read the article in its entirety for more responses from the Columbia community (including a cheeky kicker from DSpar!).