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<\/a>Sometimes you read a piece and think, well, darn it. Not just because it’s exquisitely written but because it’s the perfect expression of a simple and universal idea \u2013 an idea that’s just been lying out there, waiting to be voiced. This Song of the Unsung Alumni<\/a> by Ed Weathers in Columbia College Today magazine resonates in just that way.<\/p>\nHaving just finished editing (and enjoying) our own copious Alumni Notes for the fall\/winter issue, I’m not sure if I’m mad Weathers got to this idea first or glad that he took care of his material so beautifully. But I will share, unashamedly.<\/p>\n
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Song of the Unsung Alumni<\/strong><\/p>\n Weathers begins:<\/p>\n “This is for all of us who have never been mentioned in <\/span>The New York Times<\/em>, <\/span>The Wall Street Journal<\/em> or <\/span>The Washington Post<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n ‘It is for all of us who have never written a book, composed a symphony, made a movie or seen our play produced.<\/p>\n ‘It is for all of us who managed to get through four years at Columbia College only thanks to a modicum of intelligence and a whole lot of hard work \u2014 for those of us who, say, in our junior year read Joyce\u2019s\u00a0Ulysses <\/em>during a single 24-hour period (appropriately), and then, bleary-eyed, flunked Lionel Trilling\u2019s quiz the next morning.<\/p>\n ‘This is for all of us who scrambled every week for four years just to keep up with the assignments, practically living in Butler Library, so we never had time to Learn the City. (Where the heck is SoHo, anyway?)<\/p>\n ‘It is for all of us who have never been summa or magna anything. ….”<\/p>\n