5 CommentsProfessor Kenneth Jackson, clad in spandex and a safari vest, led some 300+ students from his History of New York class on the annual Midnight Bike Ride this past Friday morning. Beaming with Columbia pride not seen since COOP, the cyclists drew confused looks from tourists and jaded New Yorkers alike. In fact, the Wall Street Journal was so intrigued that they embedded one of their own in the ride, and you can watch her report below (or read the print article). She was amazed by how many people were “out at night in Central Park,” which by Bwog’s count was between 2 and 5.
The bike ride was far from dangerous: an SUV and the CAVA ambulance followed the bikers for most of the trip. On the midnight adventure in seminar yesterday, Jackson admitted: “by the way I once sued the police department because I don’t think you should need a permit.” Bad ass.
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5 Comments
@this girl put me to sleep
@or. you could do critical mass? just make sure your bike is street legal.
@Jacksonian scholar He only offers the class occassionally. Probably not again until Fall 2013. I don’t think he always does the ride, either.
The class is listed in most of those “OMG DON’T MISS THESE CLASSES” lists though. cf., http://bwog.com/2011/01/18/classes-to-take-before-you-die-i-mean-graduate-the-list/
@Anonymous It would be great to hear about this sort of stuff before it actually happens. Does he do this in the spring or is this a fall only type of deal
@Debbie Downer Prof. Jackson generally only teaches the class during the Fall semester of every other year (he last taught the class in Fall 2009). Technically, the bike ride is only open to students in the course, but as both Jackson and the WSJ reporter who embedded in the ride have made clear, they can’t really stop people from sneaking into the trip. While it sucks that you missed out on the trip, if Bwog (or any other Columbia news source) publicized the event, it’d probably get too huge to continue. So…try again in two years?