President Barack Obama’s post-presidential plans are suddenly a hot topic, after the president of Columbia University made a remark yesterday implying that Obama will be taking on a role at the school. NY1's Bobby Cuza filed this report.
He's a proud Columbia grad—class of ’83—and come 2017, President Obama could be back on campus.
At least that’s what university president Lee Bollinger suggested Monday, when he told incoming freshmen he looked forward to welcoming back the school’s most famous alumnus.
“There was a cheer that went up. It was really fantastic,” says student Hunter Stires.
“There were people gasping. Obviously, everybody was super-excited. Everybody was turning to Facebook, other social media really quickly and getting the news out there,” says student Sean Ryan.
So quickly, in fact, the resulting flurry of media interest led Bollinger’s comments to be downplayed by both the school and the White House, which said no decisions have been finalized about Obama’s post-presidency plans.
If he does come to New York, he could be following daughter, Malia. A high school senior, she toured both Columbia and NYU in February.
Back in May, Columbia lost out on its bid to host the Obama Presidential Library, which is being built in Chicago instead. At the time, though, the Obama Foundation said it also intends to maintain a presence at Columbia – though what that means exactly, remains to be seen.
Obama, who returned to campus in 2012 to speak at Barnard's commencement, wouldn’t be the school’s first prominent faculty member. Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsberg taught at the law school. Dwight Eisenhower was Columbia’s president before he was our nation’s president. Former Mayor David Dinkins is on the faculty and hosts an annual symposium.
“Having him here on campus, being part of the intellectual community, and the civic life of Columbia, I think, would be extraordinary. And we want him to be part of everything if he comes. We hope that he’ll engage in New York City politics, not just in national politics,” said Ester Fuchs of the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs.