Throughout this academic year, the Morningside campus is hosting Columbia Explores Romare Bearden: A Black Odyssey—readings, film screenings, panels, and other programs inspired by the truly historic Smithsonian exhibition now at the Wallach Art Gallery in Schermerhorn. Academic, artsy, with one foot in the Core curriculum and the other in Harlem, it’s the kind of campus happening that too often passes our alumni by.
Not this time. Thanks to Asha Kaufman and Nancy Wong, CAA Arts Access launched this fall with an alumni invitation to Miller Theatre’s Bearden-themed Morningside Lights. In November, exhibition curator, Professor Robert O’Meally and Devyn Tyler ’13CC gave a preview at our Northern New Jersey club. Invitations to the mid-November opening included special outreach to alumni leaders and to prospects self-identified as interested in arts and culture through Columbia Portraits—nearly 600 altogether. Key partners were Linda Ury Greenberg in Marketing and Communications, Surekha Tayal in Information Services, Tricia Seifert in Stewardship, and numerous prospect managers.
But that’s not nearly it. This winter, Columbia Magazine will feature Becca Shapiro’s story on the program and links to related online content. Lin Lan pushed out links to a great University video via the CAA newsletter. A special Wallach event in March will welcome CAA Arts Access, the Black Alumni Council, and other interested alumni. We share events via Jerry’s Picks, now also a blog, with hopes that colleagues will attend and invite others as appropriate.
Alumni and friends continuously show how much they value the encounters with new ideas and experiences that their Columbia connection provides. Whether raising awareness of Global Columbia, Precision Medicine, or other University priorities, it’s a thrill to work with colleagues across the University, faculty, and alumni to find new ways to plan, communicate, and collaborate, bringing the best of campus to our most interested constituents and engaging them more deeply in moving Columbia forward.
