<p>Truely a wonderful gift, not just because of the amount, but because it goes to students and not to buildings.</p>
<p>It also is a reminder of a legacy that Columbia really can take pride in: its history of being known as the "working man's Ivy." At a time when Harvard and Yale were full of bluebloods earning the "Gentleman's C", Columbia took people like Kluge and gave him a world class education. The historical prestige of Harvard and Yale and Princeton (as well as their huge endowments) are partly a legacy of the era when they enforced strict quotas on Jewish students and rarely hired Jewish faculty members. Times changed, of course, and so did the underrepresented groups. Yet, even now, Columbia is probably the most diverse of the Ivies, and takes pride in that fact.</p>
<p>I love the spirit of this gift. Not a monument to his ego, but a continuation of the Columbia tradition. This will help a lot of deserving students, and make Columbia an even more interesting place to be a student.</p>
<p>Forget about silly arguments over selectivity down to the decimal points. This is really a moment to take pride in Columbia for something substantial.</p>