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Just how Obama looked when he was studying in Butler back in the day.
Along with the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the University of Hawaii, Columbia University was issued a Request for Proposal by the Barack Obama Foundation earlier today, placing us in the running for Obama’s Presidential Library.
Due on December 11, this requires that Columbia “submit a formal proposal that includes detail on the proposed management and organization of the project, site development plans, community partnerships, potential for academic collaboration, marketing and attraction strategy, and information about any financial and other commitments from the host or other partners.”
The Obamas will decide in early 2015 which site will get the presidential library.
Obama and Columbia go way back. He graduated (well, depending on who you talk to) from CC in 1983, and spoke at Barnard’s commencement in 2012, which caused a bit of a stir that we termed Obamanard. Typically, though, he has focused more on his connections to Hawaii and Chicago than his school years at Columbia. Our fingers are crossed, but our hopes aren’t high.
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21 Comments
@Realistic Obama was raised in Hawaii and was a state senator and a national senator from Illinois. The only truly significant event he lived through in New York was his two year tenure at Columbia as a college student, a time he doesn’t even really speak about ever. As much as I’d love to see the Obama Presidential Library come to Columbia, I doubt he and Michelle (who he met in Chicago) would choose New York as a location over Illinois.
@Anonymous Altho true, the point of the library is to get maximum exposure and maximum use. New York is a major academic center and tourist attraction. A New York location would guarantee tons of donations and frequent use. Also, a Harlem location would be extremely fitting and symbolic to the country’s first African American president, much more so than the other locations.
@Anonymous What I heard from some prominent folks in the administration a year or so ago is they weren’t going to serious pursue it, since they were 99% sure it would end up at Chicago and it’s expensive to do these bids. Interesting that they see are now more optimistic, or think applying will have some other benefit.
@Alum There are several components to these plans: a presidential library, a museum, a foundation, and an academic institute. They don’t all have to be in the same place. Bill Clinton’s efforts provide a good example of this; his library is in Little Rock but his foundation is in NYC. It’s plausible that Obama’s library would end up at one university while his institute (and probably Obama himself) end up at another.
@Prezblunts Crossing my joints, bitches.
@Anonymous The library is entirely funded by the foundation through donations.
@kj I really hope Columbia doesn’t get the library.. seriously this school needs to stop building and keep tuition flat.
@Anonymous I’d like us to win but find it unlikely considering he didn’t live in NYC for very long and it’s not his home state.
@Junius Brutus Columbianus A perfect choice – who else could he trust to bury administrative records and documents in obscurity and redtape?
@jk3344 as reported in the nyt, obama had dinner in rome in july with renzo piano, manhattanville architect and 2014 honorary degree recipient. prezbo is going hard for this one.
@The King of Spain Yes, but Piano’s contract only requires Columbia to hire his firm for 3 buildings: Greene Center, Lenfest Hall, and the University Forum building.
B-School is Diller Scofidio Renfro, because finance bros like top-shelf bullshit.
@Alum You’re assuming a connection, but the evidence just isn’t there. “Renzo Piano met with Barack Obama over dinner” is not remotely the same as “Renzo Piano, acting on Lee Bollinger’s behalf, met with Barack Obama over dinner to discuss building his library at Columbia.” Even if he wants to build the library, that doesn’t mean it will end up here. Piano could just as easily design one for Chicago instead.
Piano has designed hundreds of buildings all around the world. Columbia is just one of his many clients, and he has only signed on for a few specific buildings. He’s not designing the entire Manhattanville campus. Even if that was the plan, Obama will surely get to choose his own architect wherever his library goes and won’t be bound by anyone else’s prior plans.
@dsda Where the fuck would we even put another library except in the new campus, but wouldn’t that require more eminent domain. #obama hates poor people
@Anonymous There’s a lot of unallocated land in the Manhattanville project. It is being built up as funding is provided by the respective tenants (various schools and departments.)
@Alum Columbia plans to put it on the Manhattanville campus. The area includes sites for 15-20 large buildings. One — or maybe two — would go to the Obama library. That wouldn’t require changing any plans, since many of the sites have not been allocated yet.
@the real question is will there be a tram that runs between morningside and manhattanville campuses? are we just expected to take the subway or walk between the two?
@This is so cool hope we get it!
@OMG -_- “well, depending on who you talk to”–> this line is ridiculous..Bwog can you for once just straight report
@lol there are a lot of crazy people, like Rush Limbaugh, who say that though…. why not acknowledge how stupid they sound?
I really hope we get the library!!
@mean girls He didn’t even go here!
@CC '14 Don’t worry, he’s going to give it to Barnard instead.