Interim President Armstrong Attends Orientation and Speaks at Convocation
“Everyone needs to feel engaged, that their voices matter and that they belong here, Armstrong said in one welcome address.”
To mark the start of the new semester, incoming students, their families, and loved ones, gathered with faculty and staff as Interim President Katrina Armstrong delivered remarks at two University Convocation ceremonies. The two events (one for Columbia College and Columbia Engineering on August 25 and another for Columbia General Studies on August 26) are designed to welcome new undergraduates and prepare them for life as Columbians.
The Power of Education
In her remarks, Armstrong spoke about her own experience of moving herself into residence halls as a first-year undergraduate at the age of 16. “My parents would have loved to have been there, but couldn’t afford the trip,” she explained. “Some of you may be in the same situation today. My mother sent me with a trunk that she had covered with fabric from my childhood bedspread, a trunk I still have today.”
Her life experience, she explained, had made clear the transformational power of education. She grew up moving around a lot, but when her parents settled in Alabama, they found a high school in Birmingham named Indian Springs, which changed the course of her life. From there, she attended Yale as an undergraduate, went on to Johns Hopkins medical school, and served in high profile positions at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard before being recruited to lead Columbia University Irving Medical Center in 2022.
“My life,” she explained, “has made two fundamental truths very clear to me. The first is that we live in a society that could be so much better. The second is that education is the single most important thing we can do to get us there.”
Our Priorities. Our Mission. Our Values.
In her Convocation speeches, Armstrong reflected on Columbia’s long and proud history of excellence while acknowledging the great toll that the COVID pandemic and the events of the 2023-2024 academic year have taken on the University community. “The past year has brought grief, anger, upheaval, and fear to the forefront,” she said. “So many in our community felt abandoned, or betrayed, and for that, I am deeply, deeply sorry.”
Armstrong reiterated the priorities she announced in a letter to the Columbia community on August 23, 2024. She made it clear that the central mission of this University is to teach, create, and advance knowledge. This mission is grounded in a commitment to free expression, open inquiry, and generous debate. For it to succeed, she said, “we must create an environment of inclusive pluralism, where all our members can thrive. Violence, intimidation, discrimination, bullying, any behaviors that prevent teaching, learning, or research are antithetical to who we are.”
Advancing knowledge and understanding, primarily by leveraging the scholarship, research, and academic excellence of our faculty is a key priority for Armstrong. So, too, is engaging with and listening to faculty, staff, alumni, and neighbors from across our community. This work will include the expansion of the Campus Climate Working Group, initiated by Provost Angela Olinto.
Armstrong is also focused on addressing discrimination and harassment. Under the leadership of Provost Olinto, Columbia is bringing several functions together in a new Office of Institutional Equity led by Vice Provost Laura Kirschstein.
On the issue of protests and demonstrations, Armstrong explained that managing them and making sure that our disciplinary processes function effectively, efficiently, and equitably will be critical moving forward. She also expressed gratitude that the Inclusive Public Safety Advisory Committee will be reenergized. Shortly after Armstrong’s letter was sent to the community, the Senate’s Rules of University Conduct Committee released updated guidelines.
Deans Emphasize Columbia’s Commitments
Columbia deans spoke at the Convocation events, highlighting themes in Interim President Armstrong’s speech and adding their own emphases.
“The achievement of arriving here is both an ending and a beginning, the fulcrum of a changing life,” Amy Hungerford, executive vice president for Arts and Sciences and dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, said in her remarks. “The activities that we associate with a growing mind—reading, reasoning, listening, analyzing data, learning context and history—all of these sit at the heart of the University’s mission. And Columbia is designed, above all, for this work: Your studies will change your mind.”
“Our students care deeply about the world around them and the future,” said Shih-Fu Chang, dean of Columbia Engineering. “Columbia will offer you an amazing environment to learn, grow, and explore new ideas to become problem solvers and agents of change who display integrity and humility. Our school’s unique vision—Engineering for Humanity—guides us on this path. There is so much that each one of you can do to fulfill this vision and make a positive impact.”
“I would encourage you to move outside of your comfort zones. Don’t be afraid of new ideas and challenging philosophies that are the currency of a Columbia education,” said Lisa Rosen-Metsch, dean of Columbia General Studies. “By challenging the notions you hold dear today, you begin to learn what you truly believe, affirming and reaffirming those ideas that will sustain you for the rest of your lives.”
“Whatever you believe, whatever you hold true, and however you define yourself, this campus and this community is now your place, your home,” said Josef Sorett, dean of Columbia College. “The things you carry are singularly yours even as they are essential to the ‘us’ that is becoming—an ‘us’ that is strengthened by the opportunity to learn from and with each other.”
Engaging With Columbians
Since taking office, Interim President Armstrong has focused on meeting with and hearing from Columbians from across the University. In addition to her formal speaking roles at the two undergraduate Convocation ceremonies, she has enjoyed meeting new students and orientation leaders at school orientation picnics and socials, as well as meeting faculty and staff at events and meetings. She has also hosted a retreat for all of Columbia’s deans. She has plans to take part in the faculty meetings of every school and join an all-staff meeting the first week in September.
On Sunday, August 25, she spent several hours at new student move-in, meeting incoming first-years and their parents, getting to know New Student Orientation Program leaders, visiting residence halls, and greeting staff from Columbia Dining.
As Armstrong said to the incoming students of Columbia College, Columbia Engineering, and Columbia General Studies during her Convocation remarks:
“I hope that you learn from your professors about the subjects that most excite you. I hope that you learn from your peers about different ways of being, different ways of thinking about the world. And I hope that you learn from this incredible city about the richness of diverse cultures, the value of finding yourself in an unexpected conversation—a moment that surprises and captivates you—and maybe, most importantly, about the delight of catching an express train on the subway when you thought you would have to take the local.”