PrintPerhaps every generation of Columbia students would say the same of its four years here, but there’s no doubt that it’s been a particularly good era to be on campus. Newsworthy events have been particularly prevalent at the University over the last several years, from the Minutemen protests of 2006 to the hunger strikes of 2007. The 2008 election has especially stood out. Students are demonstrating their desire to participate as much as possible in shaping their school, and the University has found a simple, surprisingly powerful way to tap into that energy.
By providing a JumboTron to screen selected events, usually on Low Plaza or the surrounding areas, Columbia has given its community a new means by which to say “I was there when...”
The outdoor screens used for campus events are rented through an external audiovisual and lighting firm called Advanced Staging Productions, based in West Chester, Pa. The screen’s appearance on campus may seem somewhat elusive—and that’s probably because it is. The University has rented the screen for only three major events since current students first arrived on campus with the exception of its annual use for the commencement ceremony in May. Given its price tag of approximately $30,000, it’s no wonder that only the most illustrious events are graced by the presence of the JumboTron. It’s a decision that has been made when “it was clear that a great many students, faculty, and others at Columbia would want to see and share an event as a community, yet there was no indoor venue of sufficient size to accommodate everyone,” according to Public Affairs spokesperson John Tucker.
Such was memorably the case for the ServiceNation Presidential Forum held on Sept. 11, 2008. The event, held in Roone Arledge Auditorium and featuring then-presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, drew significant attention and interest as Columbians returned to campus for the fall semester. A ticket lottery awarded 200 coveted seats to students while the University promised “alternate viewing options” to their less fortunate classmates. Upperclassmen might remember feeling a twinge of envy toward their lottery-winning friends—until, that is, the University announced plans to screen the Forum on Low Plaza. As the Steps filled on Sept. 11, students, faculty, and staff huddled together, radiating Columbia pride, cheering as Obama referenced his alumus status.
Obama also headlined the most recent JumboTron-worthy event—his inauguration last January. Despite its winter date, and a comparatively sparsely-attended screening available in the warmth of Roone Arledge Auditorium, a crowd of thousands flocked back to Low Plaza to see Obama sworn in on the big screen.
The JumboTron has given transparency to controversial as well as exclusive events. When the School of International and Public Affairs famously invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at the World Leaders Forum a year earlier in September 2007, College Walk was turned into one big water cooler debate.
Students and others were given access to the highly secure event, but they were also given the freedom to share their honest reactions with one another. And many did react, especially during the event’s juicier moments—University President Lee Bollinger’s challenging introductory remarks drew a buzz from the crowd, and Ahmadinejad’s infamous denial of the existence of homosexuality in Iran drew sardonic laughter.
No matter what the event is, making it accessible to the entire Columbia community with a JumboTron is no easy feat. “Ultimately the decision to stage and manage these events has been a collaboration among the president’s office, University Facilities, the Department of Public Safety, the Office of Student Services, and the office of University Programs and Events, University Audio/Visual Services, the Office of Communications and Public Affairs, and others including deans of student affairs,” Tucker explains.
So why go to all that trouble? What is it that makes a Low Plaza screening any different from say, catching the event on television? It seems that it is not so much the event itself as the throng of Columbia community members watching and commenting on it that makes the experience special. “I loved being among the crowd and hearing everyone’s reactions to the things being said,” Lizzie Thompson, a BC junior, says. “It helped me feel like I was part of something taking place on campus, without having to be inside the actual event.” Keep it up, Columbians, and it might just be outside, on the steps of Low Library, where the heart of the event takes place.