Many questions about Barnard

pbr
Mon, 20 Dec 2010 00:27:24 +0000

calmom, where to begin…

Unlike the “denialists,” I have always acknowledged and appreciated the affiliation of Barnard with Columbia. I have never suggested that anyone fail to acknowlege the relationship or neglect to understand how it benefits both institutions in multiple and profound ways. I understand the whole curriculum, awards, student organizations, diploma, etc. cross-pollinization, and endorse it. Your stridency, if directed at me, is misguided.

At this point, you must fully understand the following, given the countless hours spent and pages written on this topic on this forum alone: There are significant numbers of people who believe, rightly or wrongly, that significant numbers of women use the affiliation as a means to “bootstrap” into a position that is not quite honest, or to get to my post, “resume-pad.” Many of those skeptical folks are presumably employers or future employers.

As an employer myself, my post was sincere and not intended to denigrate the wonderful education provided at Barnard. My belief is that virtually every other employer that matters to Barnard grads also understands how wonderful Barnard is (feel free, of course, to tell me if you think I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure about this, even though I live thousands of miles away). Perhaps few understand the nuanced relationship between Barnard and Columbia as well as you, but I suspect virtually all understand that Barnard is affiliated with Columbia.

Given all that, why add the Columbia reference to one’s resume? If virtually all employers are “in the know,” what does the reference add? As I stated indirectly in my post, I infer that the applicant needs to add the Columbia name to validate her credentials, lacks confidence in her credentials, or was counseled to include the Columbia name by the Barnard placement office or some poster on a forum like this (most likely).

Perhaps you would view the resume differently, but I think a job applicant who simply states “Barnard College” on her resume as her alma mater shows confidence and pride.

P.S. I hope you understand why the SEAS student might include “Columbia University” on his or her resume. I would spell it out, but I don’t want this to turn into another billkamax (sp?) thread.