Columbia’s campus expansion into Manhattanville went from proposal to city-approved project this year amid clamor that ranged from staunch opposition to excitement.

The eyes of the world gazed upon Columbia in September when the University invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at the World Leaders Forum, the weeklong speakers series which Bollinger launched in his first year at Columbia to capitalize on the University’s access to the United Nations.

According to University President Lee Bollinger, the year’s events marked a flashpoint in the trajectory of his leadership.

Teachers College was forced to do some soul-searching this year as the discovery of a noose on a professor’s door—and subsequent revelations about plagiarism on her part—brought to the fore questions about the school’s handling of racial issues.
On Oct. 9, a noose, an infamous symbol of lynching, was placed on the office door of psychology and education professor Madonna Constantine’s office door. Shortly thereafter, a swastika was found painted on the door of a TC professor known for her research on the Holocaust, kicking off a campuswide dialogue on the implications of hate crimes.