Andrews: Ambassador for Niagara
Columbia Law Review Reception and Dinner
Downtown Alumni Club Often Overlooked
Columbia Club of New York Settles Down and Takes Off
Wilson lawmaker has his eyes on the prize
By THOMAS J. PROHASKA
News Staff Reporter
12/18/2006
The following young elected officials article was the subject of an article in today's issue of The Buffalo News. I wanted to share it with everyone. The News is the 45th largest paper in the country, reaching readers throughout Western New York (Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Jamestown, Olean, etc). http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20061218/1026922.asp
http://www.niagara-gazette.com/siteSearch/apstorysection/local_story_337001214.html
Andrews: Ambassador for Niagara
By Jill Terreri Niagara Gazette
last week.
NIAGARA FALLS — Niagara County politicians were represented by one of their own in New York City last week. County Legislator Kyle Andrews, 26, who holds the distinction of being New York’s youngest county lawmaker, spoke about his experiences as a young elected official at a panel in front of government students and alumni at the Columbia University Club of New York.
“I talked about the overall experience of running for office at a young age,” said Andrews, who was installed in 2001 at age 21. “The most generic advice was don’t be shy about running for political office but don’t forget what put you there.”
Andrews believes that when voters choose younger candidates, they expect more enthusiasm than usual and also expect change.
“I think that the expectations are there,” he said.
The Columbia Club is located in midtown Manhattan, away from campus, and hosts lectures and round-table discussions.
Andrews is part of the 19-seat Legislature’s five-member Democratic minority. He tried to explain to the audience that there are actually 10 Democrats in the Legislature but admitted the party affiliation situation is confusing to outsiders.
“Party structure: It’s an important part of the political structure but you can’t let it own you,” he said. “You’re more effective when you are rational enough to listen. ... It’s good to position yourself (as) approachable to the other side.”
Other panelists included New York City Councilmember Jessica Lappin, 31; Rockland County Legislator David Fried, 27; and Jersey City, N.J., Councilman Steven Fulop, 29.
Columbia Law Review Reception and Dinner – April 3, 2006
Patricia, we thoroughly enjoyed our experience at the Columbia Club. I can't think of one suggestion for improvement. I've been coordinating these types of events in Manhattan for over 15 years and your facility provided the best accommodations, food and service that I've encountered. Melissa Horowitz and all service personnel tended to our every need. I'm hoping that we hold our banquet at your facility on an annual basis.
Thanks for the follow-up and please congratulate your staff on a job well done!
Kathleen Chojnicki Business Manager Columbia Law Review.
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Downtown Alumni Club Often Overlooked
Many Students Unaware of Columbia Club’s Benefits in Networking and Comfort
By Matthew Glasser, Spectator Staff Writer
February 16, 2006
Replete with squash courts, rooms for the night, and opportunities to hobnob galore, the Columbia University Club has everything any alumnus—or undergrad—could ask for.
Situated at 15 W. 43rd St. between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, the club is traditionally considered the exclusive domain of Columbia alumni. Few students realize that the club accepts undergraduate memberships, and every year only a small group of undergraduates actually join. Out of thousands of students at Columbia, only about 100 claim membership by the end of every academic year.
The University Club offers membership to all graduate and undergraduate Columbia students, as well as to University alumni, faculty and staff. For a 2005 graduate residing in New York, the annual fees are $170, but only increase with time. A Columbia alumnus who graduated in 1996 or earlier and resides in New York City can expect to pay a $1000 initiation fee and $1300 in annual dues.
But graduate students are offered a discount membership rate at only $110 per year, while current undergraduates pay only $100 for annual dues and are exempt from the initiation fee.
Some undergrads are even exempt from the dues. Henry Sackler, CC ’06, is a member of Columbia’s squash team who enjoys free access to the club’s exercise equipment. After graduation, he plans on becoming a full member if he is still in New York. “From what I hear, they make [the price] pretty reasonable,” Sackler said.
The club shares a location with the Princeton Club, and the facility contains 50 bedrooms of varying sizes for members and their guests. These rooms are fully furnished with flat-screen cable televisions, internet access, free newspaper delivery, room service menus, and laundry services. Optional free hair dryers, irons, and Nintendo GameCubes are available upon request. These rooms normally vary in price from $223.45 to $291.47 per night, but discounts are available at different times of the year.
According to Mike Foss, CC ’03, a club governor and young alumni committee member, the quality, price, and easy process of reserving a room gives the club a competitive edge against local hotels and is ideal for students with visiting relatives.
Networking opportunities for undergraduates are another major draw, as is the club’s diversity.
“[The club] definitely allows you to get to know other members,” Foss said. “There are all sorts of people a student can meet there. [The members] are not all finance, legal people. There are people with all sorts of careers—from teaching to anything. They come from all different walks of life in New York.”
Club membership applications are available on the club Web site, and the admission committee convenes monthly to review applicants.
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Columbia Club of New York Settles Down and Takes Off
ALUMNI
By Maxwell Foxman, Spectator Staff Writer
December 09, 2005
Alumni clubs hark back to the good old days of the post-graduate world—places to visit and drink with old college chums in a swanky room, in a swanky building, a block away from Grand Central Station, before heading back home to Westchester.
But behind the squash courts and posh facilities at the Columbia University Club of New York is a place drastically different from the world of almost Wodehousian grandeur and aristocracy. The CUCNY has changed in its membership, size, and physical state in recent decades and is beginning to resemble nothing less than an old boys club.
After 30 years of moving from place to place, the club has finally found a permanent home on 43rd Street just across the street from its original location. It has seen a 200 percent increase in membership over the last three years, has expanded its Governor’s Board, and developed better connections with other Columbia clubs around the world.
The club, founded in 1901 on 43rd Street just as other Ivy League clubs were popping up around it, formed part of what became an “Alumni Club Row.” In 1973, the building that housed the club was sold to the World Unification Church due to the University’s financial problems and a diminishing interest in developing alumni relations.“
Columbia was flat out hurting for money in those days,” said Lawrence Guido, CC ’65. The administration “was recovering from the distress of the late ’60s and so there wasn’t that much attention paid to alumni.”
Until 1997, the club moved from place to place, among them the homes of the Women’s Republican Club and the Williams College’s Club, finally taking up permanent residence across the street from its original location in the same house as the Princeton University Club of New York, with which it now shares facilities.
Since finding a permanent home, membership in the club has skyrocketed. Over the last three years, club membership has increased by more than 700 people. It now has over 2,000 members in total.
According to Michael Foss, CC ’03 and one of the club’s youngest members, prior mismanagement was the major cause for the lack of membership. He emphasized, along with Guido, the continued necessity for a permanent space. “For a long time, people were embarrassed CU didn’t have something comparable to the other Ivy League clubs,” he said, adding that this new pride was something important to the increased membership and the meaning of the club in the community.
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