Robert Pollack, current Director of University Seminars, and a former Dean of Columbia College, reflects on the introduction of coeducation during his time as Dean and looks to the future of the College.
Springtime thirty years ago changed my life. I was a member of the College Faculty Committee on instruction, and a relatively new professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. I had come back to Columbia to run a lab and to teach in the Core.
I was turned away from teaching in CC, and offered instead the chance to create a course on science for non-scientists, with a grant to me from the University President, Michael Ira Sovern. The course was fun, the grant was nice to get, and I thought that was the whole story.
Then, the Faculty of Columbia College voted to admit women to the College.
