A Momentous Day

On this special day, I wish to congratulate Drew Gilpin Faust on her inauguration as Harvard University President. Today, academic institutions like Harvard must grapple with the complex and ever-shifting nature of global change. In particular, we must ask and answer what the university’s role should be in meeting the pressing issues of our uncertain age.

It will be of enormous benefit to have as a colleague in this effort a distinguished historian of President Faust’s expertise and temperament. Not only will she be able to ground our moment of openness in the longer story of human aspiration; as a specialist in the American Civil War, she will know how to anticipate, confront, and find consensus on issues that unnerve and divide us.

I admire her remarkable achievements and look forward to working with her on the many questions facing higher education. As the parent of a Harvard College alumna, I could not be prouder and more optimistic for Harvard’s future.

This is not only a special day in Cambridge. It is a momentous day for education everywhere.

Lee C. Bollinger is the President of Columbia University.