Obama is 1st Columbia graduate to become president

[BlueJessamine]

Source: AP News

It's taken two and a half centuries but Columbia College, one of the oldest in the nation, finally will have one of its alumni in the Oval Office.

And if the transition chatter is accurate, Barack Obama will choose as his attorney general Eric Holder, another graduate of the 254-year old Ivy League college on New York's Morningside Heights.

Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, who attended what was then called King's College, were secretary of the treasury and chief justice in the nation's early years. But having a Columbia graduate become president has taken a very long time.

"We note with pride" Obama's election, university president Lee G. Bollinger said in an elated statement the day after the presidential returns were in. "We are reminded of the university's core commitment to public service and its tradition of producing outstanding leaders for our nation and our world," he said.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hQHljIbZGuIIlLF5xsvKGKV9CNfQD94IV8AG0

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New York Governor David Paterson is also a Columbia graduate.

[KamaAina]

1. Guess who else is a Columbia graduate? My hardcore Republican stepdad.

:rofl:

And he just celebrated his 4th anniversary -- with the woman who took me to a McGovern rally when I was 8!!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[JDPriestly]

2. Occidental College should not be forgotten.

I believe that Obama began college there. It is a very small liberal arts college. At this time, students are pretty involved in the community, and the college encourages minority students. It is near my house. They provide a good education.

[Bicoastal]

4. *I* went there!

And, yes, I too went to New York for a graduate degree! (At NYU)

[stox]

3. FDR attended Columbia Law School

but passed the bar before graduation, and dropped out.

[KakistocracyHater]

5. look at all the dictators who are alumni

of ivy league schools, do they have "dictatorship 101" classes? Weird.

[aquart]

6. Yeah, but I'm pretty sure there were good reasons for that.

I used to have so much respect for Columbia professors when they were called as authorities on the news...and then I went to the classes.