March 17, 2008

President Lee C. Bollinger issued the following statement regarding Governor David A. Paterson, CC ’77:

As an undergraduate at Columbia, David Paterson demonstrated the kind of determination that has marked his impressive career serving the people of our local community, our city and our state. Long before this new responsibility came to him, we’ve been proud to count him as both a College alumnus and popular adjunct professor at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, where he’s made it a practice of sharing his experience and insights with young people wanting to follow him into public service.

We honored the Governor last year with Columbia’s John Jay Award for distinguished College alumni. Naturally, he brought the house down with his acceptance remarks.

I’ve seen first-hand how effective and insightful he is about the work of representing his community and governing responsibly. He is truly a people-person, whose combination of sharp humor, genuine warmth and deep substantive knowledge of the issues has made him a natural leader who builds political bridges to achieve public purposes.

This is a challenging time for New York State. David Paterson has had an enormous responsibility placed on him. But Columbians know he has what it takes to succeed even in these tough circumstances. We stand ready to help him in any way we can in the months and years ahead.