They’ve written final papers and taken final exams. The Ph.D. students have defended their dissertations. Now they’re waiting to hear President Lee C. Bollinger proclaim that they have been “admitted to the degree for which you have qualified” at University Commencement on May 22.
More than 14,000 graduates from 18 of Columbia’s schools and affiliates will be awarded degrees as the 2012-2013 academic year concludes, including those who completed degree requirements in October and February. That night, from dusk until after midnight, the spire of the Empire State Building will be lit in blue and white in honor of Columbia’s graduates.
A 63-year age difference separates the oldest and youngest graduates. At one end is the 83-year-old getting the Ph.D. he started in the 1950s. The youngest, who will earn a B.A. in economics and mathematics, turns 20 in June.
This year’s degree candidates come from more than 100 different countries. Of some 1,700 international students graduating, Columbia Business School has the most international graduates, with 282. And a total of about 120 veterans will be graduating from Columbia, 63 from the School of General Studies alone.
President Bollinger will give the Commencement address, but individual school graduations will feature Tony-award winning playwright Terrence McNally (CC’60), whose work includes "Kiss of the Spiderwoman" and "Ragtime," at Columbia College Class Day; Preet Bharara (LAW’93), U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, at Columbia Law School; ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos (CC’82) at the School of International and Public Affairs; and Grammy Award-winning musician and artist David Byrne at the School of the Arts. The University also will confer seven honorary degrees, honor ten alumni medalists for service to the University and recognize five professors with Presidential Awards for excellence in teaching.
Thousands of great stories will be standing in Low Plaza on May 22. In this issue of The Record we tell just a few of them.
