We entered the school from 116th street. The large open area between the Low Library and other buildings directly in a line with it was littered with small bits of paper trash. The large swaths of pavement in areas were cracked and sunken in places, causing uneven surfaces and presenting an unsightly appearance. In several of the buildings the wooden window frames' paint was peeling and this was visible from a distance of 50 yards.
The long hanging gold velvet curtains that separate the domed area from the rest of the building (to protect against the sun, I imagine) were dirty and stained along the bottom and in some places to a height of about four feet.
The carpet in the student gym was old, dirty and stained, and the facility seemed inadequate to serve as many students as Columbia has. It is not the tiniest stretch to say that the gym facilities of most private high schools we toured were far nicer, bigger and better equipped, and I can say categorically that they were ALL cleaner.
Our tour guide knew less about the school outside her discipline than any of the other guides we had at other schools.
I can't be any more specific than that. I take it you are a current student, and can only say that you see Columbia through the eyes of proximity and obvious love of the institution. There's nothing wrong with that, and it doesn't make your observations wrong, just yours. I am still mystified that you are not willing to allow that a visitor might have picked up on flaws that you have not noticed.
Anyway, these issues ARE important to me, as a parent. We are generous donors to all our children's schools and the upkeep of the physical plant happens to be what makes the greatest impression on me. I sit on the boards of two non-profits and when a major upgrade is taken to the physical campus of either one it elicits more favorable public and private response than any programmatic change ever has. You may think that is untrue, or unfortunate, but it is fact.
And I am done with this thread. We came, we visited, I posted.
