Bollinger, Spar release new statement on the BC/CC comment war over Obama
The news that President Barack Obama, CC ’83, would speak at Barnard’s commencement this May opened a whole new layer of the sometimes-strained Barnard–Columbia relationship.
In hundreds of comments on Spectator and on two Bwog articles, many CC students were upset that one of their most famous alums would not be speaking at his alma mater in his first trip to Morningside Heights as president, and they lashed out at their peers who were reveling in the news.
In a New York Times article today about the comments, University President Lee Bollinger called CC students’ disappointment “completely understandable.” Barnard President Debora Spar excused some of the online comments as “19-year-olds writing at 4:30 in the morning.” But administrators’ statements upset a different round of commenters, who called on Bollinger and Spar to condemn the hateful comments from the weekend.
Bollinger and Spar offered new comments this evening, telling a Spec reporter in a joint statement, “We join in the sentiments expressed by so many of our wise and thoughtful students that disrespectful comments are not representative of our community. Our collective undergraduate student body takes justifiable pride in the uniqueness of their individual schools even as they share so many of their collegiate experiences.”
Full statement, plus a roundup of Obamanard in the media, after the jump, and be sure to check tomorrow’s paper for a full story from the News Desk.
Joint statement from Bollinger and Spar:
President Obama’s upcoming commencement address is most certainly a point of pride for a university community that encompasses several institutions. We understand that, for some, there’s an entirely natural disappointment that today finds a convenient outlet in online comments, but we join in the sentiments expressed by so many of our wise and thoughtful students that disrespectful comments are not representative of our community. Our collective undergraduate student body takes justifiable pride in the uniqueness of their individual schools even as they share so many of their collegiate experiences. The larger point here, one we are confident will define the Columbia community’s view of the President’s return to Morningside Heights, is that the first Columbia graduate elected President of the United States will be addressing not only Barnard’s graduates, but the entire nation, from our campus. That is something that every part of the university can and should celebrate.
The undergraduate reaction has been widely covered in the media over the last two days. An excerpt from the New York Times story this morning, explaining the gist of the arguments:
To sum up: Either Barnard College is academically inferior to Columbia, or those who say so are misguided or misogynist; either Mr. Obama has snubbed Columbia, or this is great news and everyone in Morningside Heights should revel in it.
A Jezebel post highlighted the misogyny and elitism at play, excerpting from Bwog comments:
“While you guys were perfecting your deepthroating techniques and experimenting with scissoring and anal play, we were learning Calculus (usually by sophomore year of high school).”
“Why would we want to lower the implied standard of our education by saying that Barnard is part of Columbia?”
A Change.org petition started by Caroline Kim, BC ’13, had over 300 signatories as of this posting, calling on students to stand in solidarity against misogyny:
We urge you to show your support and solidarity against the sexism and prejudice that fragment the strength of our community as well as our commitment to mutual respect. Act now and demonstrate your unwillingness to tolerate hatred.
And a Facebook group, “I love bold, beautiful women on both sides of Broadway,” started by Leah Greenbaum, CC ’12 and a former Spectator news editor, has grown to over 450 members. (UPDATED: It’s at over 728 as of 10:13 p.m., half an hour since this post was written.) Greenbaum wrote at 9:29 p.m.:
The infamous bwog post has 825 comments… can this group get more members/lovers of unity and friendship??? Add your friends!
(UPDATED AGAIN: The group has 860 members as of 10:20 p.m. and has surpassed the number of commenters on the Bwog post in question.)
Other sites that have covered “Obamanard” or “Obarnard,” as it’s being dubbed, include The Village Voice, Gothamist, and The Atlantic Wire. Check back for a full story from the News Desk tomorrow.
TAGS:
Thank you to Leah and Caroline for starting the group and the petition.
Yeah, thanks for calling attention to this. We don’t look like we’re overreacting to blog comments at all. Meanwhile presidential hopefuls are making verified statements to millions of voters justifying gross violations of privacy and reproductive rights. But hopefully your change.org petition will get Bollinger to publicly denounce 4chan.
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spec sucks!!!
a few typos in this post, plus “misogynism” should be “misogyny”
Thanks for that! A remnant of “sexism.” Fixed. —Finn
You’ve become Columbia’s version of 4chan.
Funny, I was just thinking today that Bwog is (arguably) only one step above 4chan…
Nah, 4chan is funny.
I meant “one step above” in terms of offensiveness (of the comments). And I say this as 4chaner.
/b/wog
Where is the part of the statement condemning the abusive sexist and disgusting comments of the students on Bwog?
I continue to be disappointed by our administration.
are jumping to conclusions, there’s no way to verify who is posting on a public website like the columbia spectator or bwog, a lot of non Columbia students and non affiliates leave comments, especially on something as momentous as Obama speaking. It’s a big deal because you make it so. I’ve often gone onto different college papers and left vile comments for a bit of fun or to test reactions.
If you disagree, here’s a test: just who am I?
Once again, this statement is weak on PresBo and DSpar’s part. Saying that these comments are not representative of the community disregards the fact that THESE TYPES OF COMMENTS ARE INTOLERABLE AND SHOULD NOT BE SAID. Calling Barnard students “cum dumpsters” IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. Implying that Barnard students are only here to get their “MRS” degrees and take Home Economics IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. Saying that Barnard students are “perfecting your deepthroating techniques and experimenting with scissoring and anal play” IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.
President Bollinger and President Spar, you have to step it up. You are losing credibility with those of us who see serious misogynistic issues in these comments.
What do you suggest PrezBo and DSpar should do, then?
Calm down.
This comment is so self-defeating that I don’t even know if it’s serious. If it is, take a deep breath and consider what you’re directing your anger at. Anonymous, unfiltered blog comments beneath an extremely high-profile news story. Comments employing inflammatory, unoriginal language specifically designed to provoke an entertaining (to the commenter) reaction from you. Give a little credit to CC rhetorical skills. Misogyny exists on this side of the street, but it’s hidden in slightly more sophisticated guises. You’re playing right into the game. And (brace yourself) I honestly think you’re projecting a your preformed notions about CC misogyny (which are probably valid) onto these obviously fake comments. In fact, it’s very possible that many of them weren’t even written by CC students.
I support President Obama’s decision to speak at Barnard and stand 100% behind our Barnard friends and classmates. Is this not the 21st century? Perhaps students who feel that they need to lash out in such a hateful manner at Barnard students need to request transfers to Bob Jones University. Your hate is not wanted here.
Live by the sword, die by the sword. After defending the rights of Nicky “Million Mogadishus” DeGenova, Mahmoud “No Gays” Ahmadinejad, and the Columbia “the football team sucks” Marching Band to say whatever they want without reprisal from anyone associated with the institution… you expect Bollinger to clamp down on anonymous comments on a student blog?
Seriously?
Even hateful, bigoted, socially ass-backwards demagogues have a right to free speech. PrezBo, for all his faults, rightfully upheld them for Ahmadinejad. It wasn’t pretty or politically expedient, but it demonstrated consistency and integrity.
Besides, Ahmadinejad, like Rush Limbaugh, practically makes the case against himself by exercising this right. Limbaugh’s dwindling sponsorship should demonstrate that.
bwog comments are no better than high school girl’s gossip. what burn book do you plan on posting next Spec?
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ Repost this if ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ who don’t need no obama ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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This is getting really, really old…
first of all no one outside of morningside knows that barnard even exists let them enjoy their 5 minutes of fame. secondly, obama is a no talent ass clown
True-breeding troll specimen right here. This is the kind of shit people are calling on Bollinger and Spar to publicly condemn. Responding to it with endless op-eds and public statements implies that it’s substantial when it’s really a bogeyman projecting the illusion of a real sentiment reflecting a real person’s ignorance.
Midterm season is troll season. Procrastination will make anything seem like a fun diversion (why do you think I’m here?). It’s fake. It’s deliberately inflammatory. You can say anything or be anyone on here, and that’s not going to change. Taking it seriously is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
How do you get a dog to stop acting agsigesrvely at a fence?Well, you see, all three of my dogs feed off of each other and when one barks all of them bark. The thing is that most of the time they are barking at nothing (imaginary sounds) and they all go out the doggie door and bark at the fence gate. They probably do this every 15-60 minutes at least. And when my neighbors dog is being let out of his fence, then all of my dogs go crazy and bark and growl and even start snapping at each other. I have already tried putting my golden retriever on his choke training collar with a leash and I jerked him inside when he started acting agsigesrvely I just felt like I was hurting him though because he was pulling against me so hard. My question is how do I stop this aggression problem? AND why are they so aggressive towards the outside world??? Thanks for helping.Yes we have a wooden fence that the boards are about 1 1/2 inches apart so the dogs can see out, but between the two yard there is sort of a solid fence. It has layered boards that you can only see through if you look through it at an angle if you know what I mean. I think what gives it away that the other dog is outside is the sound of the neighbors gate unlatching.
“my mom’s getting out of prison today. i’m so proud of her!”
But I the prevailing, or at least widely-held opinion, that Barnard gains far more from its affiliation with Columbia than vice-versa is not illegitimate and will not go away any time soon. All of this sudden outcry is just symptomatic of the above attitude.
it’s also symptomatic of the sexism and misogyny rampant in columbia*’s views and treatment barnard, and that needs to be addressed just as well.
it’s, unfortunately, an entwined debate that we need to focus on unraveling.
*by which i mean the student community
I fully agree with you that internal afriafs should be discussed with domestic residents. That policy should be reformed because of globalization. As aligns, we are often exposed to the partial truth of the event or one-side story. As a result, our opinions regarding the matter are of less value or somewhat biased. There are tons of discussions or comments on the website regarding the event, negative or positive. People have places to make their voice being heard in oversea Chinese community. This blog is supposed to be a bridge between domestic and abroad alumni, currently not blocked in China. I see many guests visiting this blog from that area. So it still functions as a bridge between these two countries although it is a symbolic one. In addition domestic alumni, especially those with official posts, are not comfortable with reading negative things about China. It actually backfires when we say negative things about China, not based upon our own independent investigations but based upon rumors and/or allegations. In my opinion, it does not matter what we are saying here it has zero or very little effect on Chinese society in terms of things happening there.
Maybe Bollinger and Spar, along with the whole Columbia community (and I hope everybody understands this means BC included) should start thinking about a public act of atonement and reconciliation. This would be for the good of the University internal life.
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Maybe they could start by actually clarifying–for ALL students–the Columbia-Barnard =relationship. I think a big part of the problem is that no one is really ware of the specifics of the arrangement–myself included. As a result, rumors fly, insults get thrown, harmful and incorrect assumptions are made. Seems like an easy fix…
I agree. The ambiguity of the relationship between CU and Barnard is so glaringly obvious that it seems deliberate. From this I’m tempted to think that it’s simply not cut-and-dry. BC isn’t an undergrad college of CU, but it’s not fully independent either. It’s just in an awkward gray area.